Prevalence of Risk for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome and Association With Risk Factors in Primary Care

BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a chronic, progressive disease with high morbidity and mortality. It is underdiagnosed, especially among women. OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of high risk for OSAS globally and for the Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) categories, and to evaluate the reliability of the BQ use in the population studied. METHODS: Observational, cross-sectional study with individuals from the Niterói Family Doctor Program, randomly selected, aged between 45 and 99 years. The visits occurred between August/2011 and December/2012. Variables associated with each BQ category and with high risk for OSAS (global) were included in logistic regression models (p < 0.05). RESULTS: Of the total (616), 403 individuals (65.4%) reported snoring. The prevalence of high risk for OSA was 42.4%, being 49.7% for category I, 10.2% for category II and 77.6% for category III. CONCLUSION: BQ showed an acceptable reliability after excluding the questions Has anyone noticed that you stop breathing during your sleep? and Have you ever dozed off or fallen asleep while driving?. This should be tested in further studies with samples mostly comprised of women and low educational level individuals. Given the burden of OSAS-related diseases and risks, studies should be conducted to validate new tools and to adapt BQ to better screen OSAS.