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Published on: December 6, 2016
Screening for sleep apnoea risk in testosterone-treated transgender men
Bára Šnobrová1, Kristina Burdová1, Vladimír Weiss2
1Department of Neurology and Centre of Clinical Neuroscience, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital, Prague, Czechia.
Introduction:
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is more prevalent in men. Several studies suggested that higher testosterone levels were associated with a greater risk of OSA. We aimed to determine whether testosterone administration in transgender men would accentuate symptoms of OSA.
Methods:
The study involved 94 adult people undergoing a female-to-male transition with testosterone administration. The participants answered the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) and a separate question on snoring before starting testosterone treatment and after at least 1 year of being on testosterone treatment.
Results:
A higher proportion of participants at the follow-up answered positively to the first category of BQ devoted to snoring. A lower proportion of participants at follow-up answered positively to the second category of BQ devoted to tiredness. The percentage of subjects with a high risk of sleep apnoea, according to BQ, and of those who answered the question on snoring positively did not change significantly.
Conclusion:
An increased number of transgender men who reported snoring in BQ after testosterone administration indicate a higher risk of OSA development.
