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Snoring
Last edited |
02/08/2009
Written by Maurice M. Ohayon, MD, DSc, PhD
"There ain't no way to find out why a
snorer can't hear himself snore" Mark Twain (1834-1910)
Several authors have previously performed investigations of
snoring but this study was the first on a large representative sample of a major European
country.
Such investigations are of interest as regular, heavy snoring
is the most noticeable feature associated with sleep disordered breathing and
there is a noted association with hypertension, cerebrovascular accidents and
coronary artery diseases .
Research
In 1994, we investigated the prevalence of snoring and
breathing pauses during sleep, using telephone interviews, in a representative
sample of the general population of the United Kingdom.
The objective was to
determine the prevalence of snoring, breathing pauses during sleep, and
obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) and to determine the relation between
these events and sociodemographic variables, other health problems, driving
accidents, and consumption of health care.
We interviewed by telephone, using the Sleep-EVAL system, 2894 women and 2078
men aged 15-100 years who formed a representative sample of the
non-institutionalized population of the United Kingdom.
Results
Forty per cent of the sample reported snoring regularly and
3.8% reported breathing pauses during sleep.
Regular snoring was
significantly associated with:
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male gender, age of 25 or more,
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obesity,
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daytime sleepiness or naps,
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night time awakenings,
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large amounts of caffeine intake,
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smoking.
Breathing pauses during
sleep were significantly associated with:
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obstructive airway or thyroid diseases,
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male gender, 35-44 years age group,
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consumption of anxiety-reducing drugs,
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complaints of non-restorative sleep,
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consultation of a doctor in the past year.
These two breathing symptoms were also significantly
associated with drowsiness while driving.
Based on the International Classification of Sleep Disorders
(1990) minimal criteria, 1.9% of the sample had
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Syndrome.
In the 35-64 year age
group, Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
Syndrome was found in 1.5% of women (95% confidence interval 0.8% to 2.2%)
and 3.5% of men (2.4% to 4.6%).
Disordered breathing during sleep is widely underdiagnosed in
the United Kingdom.
This situation is linked to increased use of medical
resources and a greater risk of daytime sleepiness which augments the risk of
accidents.
Physicians should ask
patients and bed partners regularly about snoring and breathing pauses during
sleep.
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Sleep-EVAL
Research
