Comparative study of data between genders in the screening sleep study in the patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Objective:To investigate the differences of data between genders in the screening sleep study in the patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).Methods:The OSAS patients were diagnosed by polysomnography.Apnea hypopnea index (AHI),body mass index (BMI),snoring index,the accumulated time (minutes) of apnea hypopnea,the lowest oxygen saturation (SaO2),and the accumulated time of hypoxemia were recorded and compared between the male patients and the female patients.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 12.0 for Windows software.Results:There was no significant difference in BMI,snoring index,or the lowest SaO2 between the male patients and the female patients.However,there was significant difference in AHI,the accumulated time of apnea hypopnea and hypoxemia between the two groups.Conclusion:The severity of OSAS in the female patients did not increase with BMI as the male patients did,but the occurrence of severe hypoxemia in the female patients were not less than the male patients.This phenomenon is worth to be studied.On the other hand,although both genders had similar occurrence of severe hypoxemia,the accumulated time of apnea hypopnea and hypoxemia was much less in the female patients compared with the male patients.Therefore,further studies were needed about whether we should treat these patients differently.