Study objective: Male predominance has been observed in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) studies conducted in the community and sleep clinics. Due to the different demographic and patient risk profiles of the studies involved, we investigated the effects of gender on OSA prevalence among patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).
Methods: We prospectively recruited a cohort of CAD patients for an overnight sleep study using a home testing portable diagnostic device. OSA was defined as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 15.
Results: One hundred sixty-two consecutive patients (male, n = 81; female, n = 81) were recruited, and most (60%) presented with acute coronary syndrome. The female patients were older (61 ± 10 versus 56 ± 10 years, p < 0.001), less likely to be smokers (8.6% versus 34.6%, p < 0.001), and more likely to have diabetes mellitus (70.4% versus 46.9%, p = 0.002) and chronic renal failure (17.3% versus 4.9%, p = 0.012) than the male patients. The sleep study's success rate was higher in female than male patients (88.9% versus 74.1%, p = 0.047). No significant differences were observed between them in the AHI, oxygen desaturation index, baseline SpO2, lowest SpO2, or total time SpO2 < 90%. The prevalence of OSA for the female and male patients was 40.3% and 35.0%, respectively (p = 0.323).
Conclusion: Prevalence of OSA is high in CAD patients with no evidence of sex predilection. The lack of male predominance could be due to females being older and with more comorbidities.
Keywords: coronary artery disease; gender difference; obstructive sleep apnea; prevalence.
© 2014 American Academy of Sleep Medicine.