Prevalence of obstructive sleep apnoea in a sample of obese women: effect of menopause

Diabetes Nutr Metab. 2004 Oct;17(5):296-303.

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a well known risk factor for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Previous studies have investigated the prevalence of OSA among obese people, but a sample of women was rarely studied.

Objective: To describe the anthropometric and polysomnographic characteristics of a sample of obese women and investigate the effect of menopause on the prevalence of OSA.

Materials and methods: Using a full-night polysomnography we studied a sample of 133 obese women with a body mass index (BMI) > or = 30 kg/m2.

Results: About 44% of our sample had a respiratory disturbance index (RDI) > or = 10. Neck circumference, BMI and age resulted the strongest predictors of RDI value. We also found that the prevalence of OSA was higher among post-menopausal women (67%) in comparison with pre-menopausal women (31%). Moreover, post-menopausal women had larger neck circumference and higher waist-to-hip circumference ratio (WHR).

Conclusions: Among post-menopausal obese women the prevalence of OSA increases. We suggest that menopause could cause a different body fat distribution with an increase of fat in upper parts of the body and, consequently, with an increase of neck circumference.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Anthropometry
  • Body Fat Distribution
  • Body Mass Index
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Italy / epidemiology
  • Menopause / physiology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Neck / anatomy & histology
  • Obesity / complications*
  • Polysomnography
  • Premenopause
  • Prevalence
  • Regression Analysis
  • Respiration
  • Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / epidemiology*
  • Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / etiology
  • Spirometry
  • Waist-Hip Ratio