Purpose: To determine the prevalence of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) in a general population aged from 50 to 70 years. Subjects and Methods: We recruited 76 individuals aged between 50 and 70 years, chosen at random from the electoral census. They were invited to the clinic where a detailed medical history was taken and physical examination, ENT examination, pulmonary function tests and night time recording of respiratory variables performed. Results: The prevalence of SDB (apnea-hypopnea index ≥ 5) was 28.9%, and there were no differences between men (28%) and women (30%). However, the prevalence of SAS was 6.8%, and there were differences between men (5 cases) and women (0 cases) (p = 0.0521). Subjects in the SDB group had higher systolic blood pressure than in the non-SDB group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: SDB and SAS are common among 50- to 70-year olds. The prevalence of SDB was 28.9% and the prevalence of SAS was 6.8%.

Objective To describe the prevalence and concordance between cervical and anal HPV infection and compare cervicovaginal and anal self-collection methods for HPV testing between physician and self-collected specimens in women in Puerto Rico. Materials and Methods Specimens for HPV-DNA testing were obtained from 100 women aged 18-34 years attending a general gynecology clinic for a routine Pap smear. HPV testing was performed using PCR MY09/MY11 primers. Positive samples were typed for 39 genotypes. Agreement between sampling methods was determined by % agreement and the kappa statistic. Results 38.4% (38/99) of cervicovaginal and 33.7% (30/89) of anal physician-collected samples were HPV+, for the 39 genotypes evaluated; whereas, 35.1% (34/97) of cervicovaginal and 32.0% (31/97) of anal self-collected samples were positive. HPV-16 was the most common type identified in the cervix (8.3%, 8/97) and the anus (5.6%, 5/89) of physician-collected samples, with similar prevalence in self-collected samples. Concordance between cervical and anal HPV infection was high (>90%) for all HPV types evaluated. There was strong % agreement between physician and self-collected cervicovaginal and anal samples (>95% for all HPV types) and good-excellent agreement (kappa>0.60) for most HPV types. Conclusions The clinic-based prevalence of anal and cervicovaginal HPV infection was high, with strong concordance between cervical and anal infection and good to excellent agreement between physician and self-collected samples. This study supports the feasibility of utilizing cervical and anal self-sampling methods in future population-based studies of HPV infection in PR, and as an HPV screening method in women.

The association between snoring and myocardial infarction was studied in 1453 people of both sexes aged 20-70 years. The study was carried out in a population of 92,364 residents and the subjects were recruited using the Electoral Census. A questionnaire was sent to all participants, asking about snoring and cardiovascular risk factors. Hospital records were checked for the next 4 years to establish how many of them developed myocardial infarction. At the beginning of the follow-up study 39 patients were diagnosed with ischaemic heart disease. Of the other 1414 participants, 571 (40.4%) were snorers and 843 (59.6%) non-snorers. Twenty-one developed myocardial infarction in the snorer group and four in the non-snorer group. The snorer group presents an adjusted relative risk of myocardial infarction of 3.08 (95% CI 1.01-9.46) with respect to non-snorers. We conclude that snoring seems to be a potential risk factor for myocardial infarction.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to estimate the prevalence and correlates of seropositivity to human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 in a subsample of adults who participated in the parent study Epidemiology of Hepatitis C in the adult population of Puerto Rico (PR).SettingThe parent study was a population-based household survey aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of hepatitis C and other viral infections (hepatitis A, hepatitis B, HIV, and herpes simplex type 2) in PR (n=1654) between 2005 and 2008.ParticipantsA subsample of the last 450 consecutive adults aged 21–64 years, recruited between February 2007 and January 2008, who participated in the parent study and agreed to participate in HPV testing.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe samples were tested by ELISA for HPV-16 viral-like particle-specific immunoglobulin G. Information on sociodemographic, health, and lifestyle characteristics was collected. Logistic regression modelling was used to estimate the prevalence odds ratio (POR) to assess factors associated to HPV-16 seropositivity.ResultsPrevalence of seropositivity to HPV-16 was 11.3%. Seroprevalence was higher in women (15.8%) than men (5.6%; p=0.001). After adjusting for age and sex, ever smokers (POR 2.06, 95% CI 1.08 to 3.92) and participants with at least five lifetime sexual partners (POR 2.91, 95% CI 1.24 to 6.81) were more likely to be HPV-16 seropositive.ConclusionsHPV-16 seropositivity is similar to that reported in the USA (10.4%) for NHANES 2003–2004 participants, although different assays were used in these studies. While future studies should evaluate HPV seroprevalence using a larger population-based sample, our results highlight the need to further understand the burden of HPV infection and HPV-related malignancies in PR, population with a low vaccine uptake.

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