Anthropometric Characteristics of Korean Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Abstract

Background and Objectives Obesity is one of the most important risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). There is limited evidence regarding the obesity-related anthropometric characteristics of Korean patients.

Materials and Method Medical records of 984 patients referred to 3 tertiary referral hospitals for habitual snoring or sleep apnea were analyzed. We defined OSA as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥5 and analyzed data to determine the anthropometric characteristics of patients with OSA such as neck circumference (NC), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), and waist to hip ratio (WHR).

Results A total of 952 patients (719 men) were included in the analysis. The main findings were: 1) BMI, WC, NC, HC, and WHR were greater among patients with OSA than among controls (AHI < 5); 2) for both sexes, the proportion of patients with an OSA diagnosis increased with age; it increased steeply for women aged >50 years; 3) WC and WHR were most strongly correlated with AHI for men and women, respectively.

Conclusion OSA is associated with anthropometric characteristics, although different patterns were observed between men and women. OSA was more strongly associated with NC or WC among men and with WHR among women.