Prevalence and predictors of obstructive sleep apnea in collegiate football players

Football players are a unique population that present with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) at rates higher than the general population, likely due to high body mass indices and large neck circumferences. However, few studies have studied the prevalence of OSA in young, collegiate football players. We therefore examined the prevalence of OSA, as well as assessed a simple screening tool to identify OSA risk, in collegiate football players.

Participants from the Colorado State University football team completed anatomical evaluations and in-depth health history and sleep questionnaires and wore a WatchPAT 300 device for 3 consecutive nights for in-home estimations of apnea-hypopnea index and blood oxygen saturation.

Fifty-eight young, healthy males completed the study (body mass index: 29.2 ± 4.2 kg/m²; mean ± standard deviation). Thirty-five percent of study participants (n = 18) had mild-to-moderate OSA, and a significantly higher body mass index as compared to no OSA (P = .03). In addition, participants with mild-to-moderate OSA scored significantly higher on the STOP-Bang questionnaire as compared to participants with no OSA (P < .01). The corresponding sensitivity and specificity for the STOP-Bang was 83% and 41%, respectively. When overnight oxygen saturation < 94% was added to the STOP-Bang assessment, the corresponding sensitivity and specificity was 61% and 79%, respectively.

Collegiate football players present with OSA at a higher rate than the general population. Incorporating overnight oxygen saturation into the STOP-Bang questionnaire may increase the specificity for detecting OSA and should be included when assessing OSA in this population.

Trikha SRJ, Raab R, DeZeeuw T, et al. Prevalence and predictors of obstructive sleep apnea in collegiate football players. J Clin Sleep Med. 2025;21(7):1233-1243.