The objective of this study was to compare the frequency of some sociocultural, clinical, and anthropometric data between men and women in a sample of 1745 patients referred to a Sleep Unit for symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). A standardized questionnaire was administered and anthropometric data were measured. Patients underwent a polysomnography (during a night or a nap) or an overnight home cardiorespiratory polygraphy. A total of 1166 patients (male/female ratio 4.9:1) fulfilled criteria of OSA (apnea-hypopnea index > or = 10). Women were employed, habitual drivers or workers at risk occupations in a lower percentage than men. Women came to the clinical interview accompanied by their partner less frequently than men. The frequency of snoring and daytime hypersomnolence was similar in both genders, although witnessed apneas were more frequent in males. Fatigue, morning headaches, insomnia, depression and use of sedatives were more frequent in women than in men. Women were older than men, more obese (although with an obesity pattern less centrally distributed), and referred hypertension more frequently. It is concluded that it is likely that women with OSA may be underdiagnosed due to circumstances related to the family lifestyle and sociocultural factors in addition to different OSA clinical expression.

Level III, case control study.

The present study assessed the usefulness of home cardiorespiratory polygraphy as an alternative to overnight polysomnography for the diagnosis of sleepdisordered breathing in heart failure.A total of 75 patients with chronic stable heart failure due to systolic dysfunction (left ventricular ejection fraction f45%) underwent polysomnography at the Virgen del Rocio Hospital and cardiorespiratory polygraphy at home. The two studies were performed in random order and within 30 days. The accuracy of polygraphical findings was determined by sensitivity and specificity obtained by area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves for apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) thresholds of o5, o10 and o15 in the polysomnography.The area under the ROC curve for AHI o5, o10 and o15 was 0.896, 0.907 and 0.862, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of polygraphy compared with polysomnography ranged 78.6-84%, with sensitivities of 68.4-82.5%, and specificities of 88.6-97.8% for the different AHI thresholds. Altogether, 29 patients had an AHI o10 (central pattern 24, obstructive pattern 5). Sensitivity and specificity of home polygraphy for identifying the sleep-disordered breathing pattern was 100%.These data show that home cardiorespiratory polygraphy has a high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of sleep-disordered breathing associated with heart failure.

No abstract

Both POCT analyzers for HbA1c show good correlation with the laboratory method and acceptable precision.