Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening in Patients Attending Medical Outpatient Department of Tertiary Care Hospital of Kathmandu: A Cross-sectional Study

TL;DR

This study finds a high risk of obstructive sleep apnea among patients in a Nepalese hospital using a screening questionnaire.

Contribution

The study provides prevalence data on obstructive sleep apnea risk in a resource-limited setting using the STOP-BANG questionnaire.

Findings

56% of patients were categorized as intermediate to high risk for obstructive sleep apnea.

Age over 50, male sex, hypertension, and diabetes were independent predictors of sleep apnea risk.

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea is a common yet underrecognized condition in people marked by upper airway obstruction during sleep, causing fatigue and serious health consequences. Diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea with polysomnography may not be feasible in resource limited-setting, place as in Nepal. Therefore, this study aims to find the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea among patients using the STOB-BANG questionnaire as a screening tool.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 265 patients attending the medical outpatient department at a tertiary care hospital. The risk of OSA was assessed using a standardised questionnaire, classifying participants into low-risk (score 0-2) and intermediate-to-high risk (score 3-5) groups. A multivariate logistic model was applied to find the risk factors.

Out of 250 patients after exclusion, 183 (73.20%) were age above 50 years and 130 (52%) were hypertensive. Based on the STOP-BANG risk score, 140 (56%; 95% CI: 49.61%-6225%) were categorized as intermediate to high risk and 110 (44%; 95% CI 37.75%-50.39% ) were categorized as low risk of obstructive sleep apnea. Age more than 50 years , male sex, hypertension and diabetes were identified as independent predictors of sleep apnea risk even after adjustment for potential confounders.

The proportion of obstructive sleep apnea was comparably high in our study population.