Obstructive sleep apnoea among older patients attending the geriatric clinic in Nigeria

Abstract

Aim: To determine the risk of obstructive sleep apnoea and sleep difficulties among older patients attending the geriatric clinic at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria.
Methods: The Berlin questionnaires was used to assess the risk of OSA in 843 older patients aged 60 years and above at geriatric clinic, UCH, Ibadan. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out on the following candidate variables such as sociodemographic characteristics, sleep difficulty, anthropometric measurements and lifestyle habits with high risk for OSA.
Results: High risk for obstructive sleep apnoea was found in 154 (18.3%) using the Berlin questionnaire and overall difficulty with sleep was reported by 114 (13.5%). High risk for OSA was significantly associated with obesity and large waist circumferencesin both sexes, but with the wide neck circumference in the males only. Logistic regression analysis showed wide neck circumference (OR=3.937; 95% CI=1.370–11.364) and obesity (OR=12.658; 95% CI=4.975-32.258) to be the most significant factors in the males, while obesity (OR=11.364; 95% CI=6.711-19.231) alone was the most significant factor to high risk for OSA in the females.
Conclusion: Older people in this setting are at high risk for OSA and sleep difficulty which could be assessed using simple tools within the constraint of the routine clinical consultations.