Obstructive sleep apnea risk and its associated factors among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients at wolkite university specialized hospital, Wolkite, Southern Ethiopia, 2021. A comparative cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea is a syndrome characterized by recurrent partial, or complete upper airway collapse during sleep. Although obstructive sleep apnea is common in type 2 diabetes mellitus, the majority of patients remain undiagnosed because of the prohibitive cost of the test and paucity of the sleep clinic, especially in developing nations. The study aimed to assess high-risk obstructive sleep apnea and its associated factors among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients at Wolkite University Specialized Hospital. METHODS: A Hospital-based comparative cross-sectional study was employed from October 15 to December 5, 2021, among 204 participants. Data collection was done by semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaires. Data was entered into the Epi data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25.0 for analysis. Independent t-test and chi-square test were used to compare continuous and categorical variables accordingly. Binary and multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess factors associated with high-risk obstructive sleep apnea. Statistical significance was set at P-value < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 204 participants with an equal proportion of the two groups were included with a 100% response rate. About 56.9% of the participants were males. The mean age of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients was 57.1 (± 12.0) years and the non-diabetic group was 55.3 (± 10.9) years. The prevalence of high-risk obstructive sleep apnea among type 2 diabetes mellitus was 42.2%, and that of non-diabetics was 13.7% (p < 0.001). Age (AOR: 1.13; 95%CI: 1.04, 1.22), neck grasp (AOR: 6.48; 95%CI: 1.56, 26.96), waist circumference (AOR: 4.44; 95%CI: 1.12, 17.61) and the presence of diabetes-related complications (AOR: 4.18; 95%CI: 1.13, 15.43) were independently associated with high-risk obstructive sleep apnea among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of high-risk obstructive sleep apnea among type 2 diabetes mellitus was higher with a significant difference from their comparison group. Age, neck grasp, waist circumference, and diabetes-related complications were significantly associated with high-risk obstructive sleep apnea among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Therefore, type 2 diabetes mellitus patients should be screened for obstructive sleep apnea in the early course of their follow-up to take preventive measures and early treatments.