Screening for High Risk of Sleep Apnea in an Ambulatory Care Setting in Saudi Arabia

Adeel Nazir Ahmad, Geraldine McLeod, Nada Al Zahrani and Haneen Al Zahrani
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Adeel Nazir Ahmad: Department of Family Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Jeddah 40047, Saudi Arabia
Geraldine McLeod: Christchurch Health and Development Study, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
Nada Al Zahrani: Department of Family Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Jeddah 40047, Saudi Arabia
Haneen Al Zahrani: Department of Family Medicine, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Jeddah 40047, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-9

Abstract: Sleep apnea is a potentially serious but under-diagnosed sleep disorder. Saudi Arabia has a high prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and smoking, which are all major risk factors for sleep apnea. However, few studies report screening for sleep apnea in Saudi Arabia. A three-month prospective, questionnaire-based study, using the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), screened 319 patients attending a family medicine clinic in Saudi Arabia for risk of sleep apnea. The results showed that when using the BQ and the ESS, 95 (29.8%) and 102 (32.0%) respondents were at high risk of sleep apnea. Taken together, the BQ and the ESS combined measure showed that 41 (12.9%) respondents were classified as high risk for sleep apnea. Logistic regression revealed that the high risk of sleep apnea was statistically significantly ( p < 0.05) associated with respondent characteristics of obesity and hypertension. No associations were found between high risk for sleep apnea and: Smoking, diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism or hyperlipidemia. Screening for sleep apnea using the BQ and ESS questionnaires, particularly among those who are obese or hypertensive, can be a fast, valid and acceptable way of alerting the physician to this disorder among patients.

Keywords: obstructive sleep apnea; Berlin Questionnaire; Epworth Sleepiness Scale adult; Saudi Arabia; cross-sectional (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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