Brief communication (Original). Sleep-disordered breathing and risk factors in Thailand

Abstract

Background: Sleep-disordered breathing or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has an important effect on the quality of life. Very few data of OSA are available for Thai persons. Objective: Investigate the prevalence of high risk to OSA and the relationship between OSA and risk factors in Thai medical students. Materials and methods: Three hundred seven subjects were recruited from all of the medical students (fourth year to sixth year) the Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand for this cross-sectional study. Data was collected between June and September 2010. The Berlin questionnaire was used to determine risk for OSA. Logistic regression analysis was performed with p-value less than 0.05 for statistical significance. Results: The prevalence of high risk to OSA was 6.8%. Total mean of sleep duration, bedtime, and wake-time was 6.59 hours. Bedtime of male students was significantly later than female students. The medical students with body mass index (BMI) >23 kilogram/meter 2 and with underlying diseases were at high-risk for OSA. Conclusion: Prevalence of high-risk to OSA of Thai medical students was 6.8%. The medical students with BMI >23 kilogram/meter 2 and with underlying diseases were at high risk for OSA but gender, age, academic year, and academic achievement did not relate to OSA.

Prospective study of the prevalence and co-morbidities of obstructive sleep apnea in active-duty army personnel in the three southernmost provinces of Thailand using questionnaire screening

“…In one study on the prevalence of OSA in Thai medical students [ 18 ] using the Berlin questionnaire, 6.8% of subjects indicated a high risk for OSA, higher than that reported in our study (4.8%). The cause might be that the mean age of our study was 26.9 ± 8.0 years while that in Thai medical students was 21.9 ± 1.0 years.…”

“…The risk factors for OSA from our study were LPR, smoking and a history of previous alcoholic consumption and current alcoholic consumption. In terms of the association between LPR and OSA, in our study, the prevalence of LPR was 28.9%, and it was a strong risk factor for OSA, corresponding to the study of Kongsomboon and Neruntarat (2006) [ 18 ] who stated that co-morbidities, especially peptic ulcer and GERD, were risk factors for OSA.…”

“…The other report involving OSA and risk factors in Thailand was performed by Kongsomboon and Neruntarat [ 18 ]. They used the Berlin questionnaire in 307 subjects recruited from fourth- to sixth-year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, Srinakarinwirot University, Thailand and showed that the prevalence of OSA in Thai medical students was 6.8%.…”