Prevalence and risk factors of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in a Saudi Arabian population

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder worldwide; however, epidemiological studies on its prevalence lack in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of OSA in Saudi Arabia.

The study was performed from 2013 to 2015 in two stages. The screening stage was first; a random sample of Saudi employees (n = 2682) 30-60 years of age completed a survey that included the Wisconsin questionnaire. According to these data, the subjects were categorized as habitual, moderate, or nonsnorers (NSs). The confirmatory second stage was a case-control study conducted on 346 individuals selected from each group using polysomnography (PSG).

In the first stage, the prevalence of habitual snoring was 23.5%, moderate snoring was16.6%, while 59.9% of the sample was NSs. Among the 346 individuals who underwent PSG, a total of 235 (67.9%) subjects had OSA with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of ≥5; 76 (22.0%) had OSA syndrome (OSAS), defined by an AHI of ≥5 plus daytime sleepiness; and 227 (65.6%) had clinically diagnosed OSA syndrome (COSAS), as defined by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. A conservative estimate of at least 8.8% (12.8% in men and 5.1% in women) was calculated for the overall prevalence of OSA. Similarly, the overall estimated prevalence of OSAS and COSAS was 2.8% (4.0% in men and 1.8% in women) and 8.5% (12.4% in men and 4.8% in women), respectively. A multivariate analysis revealed age, gender, obesity, and hypertension as independent risk factors of OSA.

Our study demonstrated that the rate and risk factors of OSA in the Saudi population are similar to those observed in Western studies.