Gender differences in clinical and polysomnographic features of obstructive sleep apnea: a clinical study of 2827 patients

摘要

Abstract Purpose Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is underdiagnosed in females due to different clinical presentation. We aimed to determine the effect of gender on clinical and polysomnographic features and identify predictors of OSA in women. Methods Differences in demographic, clinical, and polysomnographic parameters between 2052 male and 775 female OSA patients were compared. Results In female OSA patients, age (56.1?±?9.7 vs. 50.4?±?11.6?years, p ? 2 , p ? p ? p ? p ? p ? The indicators of OSA severity including apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ( p ? p ?=?0.007) were lower in women. REM AHI ( p ? p ? p ?=?0.028) and sleep efficiency ( p ?=?0.003) and increased sleep latency ( p ? Conclusions These data suggest that frequency and severity of sleep apnea is lower in female OSA patients, and they are presenting with female-specific symptoms and increased medical comorbidities. Therefore, female-specific questionnaires should be developed and used for preventing underdiagnosis of OSA.