Gender Differences in Sleep Apnea: A Study of the Catalan Population

Objective To analyse the distribution of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and key comorbidities among men and women over 18 years old without a prior diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, seen by the teams of the Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) in both Primary Care (PC) and hospitalization according to Body Mass Index (BMI). Methods Cross-sectional, observational, and retrospective study with a cohort of 3,886 people, stratified by sex. Data were obtained from the SIDIAP database covering all individuals diagnosed with OSA without previous cardiovascular events from 01/01/2009-31/12/2016. The variables were age, socioeconomic deprivation index (MEDEA), BMI, smoking, alcohol consumption, and other comorbidities. Cardiovascular risk was calculated using the REGICOR function. Chi-square tests were used to compare variables by sex. Results Of the 3,886 people, 28.8% were women. The majority of individuals (92.6%) were > 40 years old. Women reported a higher BMI and a different comorbidity profile. They also showed a higher prevalence of Class III obesity. On the other hand, men presented higher alcohol and tobacco consumption and more metabolic conditions such as hypertriglyceridemia and hyperuricemia. They also showed a higher cardiovascular risk compared to women. Conclusion There are gender differences in OSA without prior cardiovascular disease according to gender and BMI. This has clinical implications to be considered in diagnosis and treatment.