Global Risk Factor Evaluation of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Relation to Research Activity and Socioeconomic Factors

Rebekka K. Seeger-Zybok, Doris Klingelhöfer and David A. Groneberg
Additional contact information
Rebekka K. Seeger-Zybok: Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University of Frankfurt, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany
Doris Klingelhöfer: Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University of Frankfurt, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany
David A. Groneberg: Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University of Frankfurt, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-15

Abstract: Obstructive Sleep Apnea is emerging as a global health epidemic, particularly due to the obesity pandemic. However, comprehensive prevalence data are still lacking and global OSA research has not yet been structurally evaluated. Using the latest comprehensive age/gender-specific BMI and obesity data, a global landscape estimating the risk/burden of OSA was created. Results were presented in relation to an in-depth analysis of OSA research and countries’ socioeconomic/scientific background. While the USA, Canada, and Japan are the highest publishing countries on OSA, Iceland, Greece, and Israel appeared at the forefront when relating the scientific output to socioeconomic parameters. Conversely, China, India, and Russia showed relatively low performances in these relations. Analysis of the estimated population at risk (EPR) of OSA showed the USA, China, India, and Brazil as the leading countries. Although the EPR and OSA research correlated strongly, major regional discrepancies between the estimated demand and actual research performances were identified, mainly in, but not limited to, developing nations. Our study highlights regional challenges/imbalances in the global activity on OSA and allows targeted measures to mitigate the burden of undiagnosed/untreated OSA. Furthermore, the inclusion of disadvantaged countries in international collaborations could stimulate local research efforts and provide valuable insights into the regional epidemiology of OSA.

Keywords: OSA; public health; epidemiology; risk factor; bibliometrics; prevalence; obesity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/18/6785/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/18/6785/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:18:p:6785-:d:415232

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().