Natural evolution of snoring: a 5-year follow-up study

Abstract

Introduction– The natural evolution of snoring was studied in a middle‐aged population in Finland. Material and methods– A questionnaire was mailed to a stratified random sample of 1600 people aged 36–50 years in 1985 with a response rate of 75.2%; 53% of them completed also the 5‐year‐follow‐up questionnaire. Clinical examinations (N = 36) and whole‐night polygraphic recordings (N = 22) were made to habitual (every or almost every night) snorers and daily sleepy persons. Results– A total of 626 persons completed the 5‐year‐follow‐up questionnaire. The prevalence of habitual snoring among men was 28.3–43.8% and among women 6.3–18.8%, increasing with age. Sleepiness was common: doze‐off at the wheel was reported by 23% of snorers and traffic accidents because of sleepiness by 4.5%. Hypertension was clearly more common (p = 0.002) among habitual snorers, but the self‐reported rates of strokes and coronary heart disease were not increased in this study. None of the snorers had been investigated because of their snoring or sleepiness during the five years. In polygraphic recordings 11/22 showed an oxygen desaturation index (ODI4) more than 5/h; active treatment was started for 8 of them. The observed prevalence of sleep apnea syndrome with ODI4> 10 was 1.1% in this study. Conclusions– Snorers, even with clear sleepiness, are passive in seeking help for their symptoms. Physicians should actively diagnose this treatable condition impairing the quality of life and increasing the risk of traffic accidents and vascular diseases.

Characterization of Upper Air Way Tract in Snoring and Non-Snoring Patients: A CT Based Study

“…The prevalence of snoring was found to be 127 patients including 100 males (78.7%), their ages were 42.6 ± 14.61 and 27 females (21.3%), and their ages were 53.2 ± 18.25 age ranged between 15 and ˃75 years ( Figure 1). Comparing with previous studies done for snoring; men and women showed an increase of snoring in mid-life [27]- [29]. In other study of patients between 30 and 60 years of age, the highest prevalence were found among men between 50 and 60 years.…”

“…Large population based studies have shown an increasing trend in prevalence of snoring up to the age group of 60 -69 years in Finland [31] and up to 60 -70 years in Spain [32]. Other studies have reported higher prevalence among middle-aged populations: 44% in men and 28% in women in the USA and 28% -44% and 6% -19% in Finland, respectively [27] [30] [31]. Men have 2-to 3-fold greater risk of snoring than women, but mechanisms underlying this difference are not clear.…”

Assessment of the sleep parameters in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome with a history of traffic accident

“…Martakinen ve ark. 20 basit horlayanların %23'ünün hayatlarında en az bir kez direksiyon başında uyuduğunu ve bu olgularda kaza yapma riskinin %4,5 olduğunu bildirmişlerdir [15]. OUAS'lu hastalarda kaza yapma riski ile hastalığın ağırlığını gösteren apne-hipopne indeksi arasında doğrusal ilişki olduğu bildirilmiştir.…”

Epidemiology of sleep disorders

“…Heavy habitual (every night) snoring (i.e., partial upper-airway obstruction), even without apneas, may influence pulmonary arterial pressure, and it is associated with daytime sleepiness, arterial hypertension, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and other health consequences (Lugaresi et al, 1975(Lugaresi et al, , 1983bPartinen et al, 1983bPartinen et al, , 1998Koskenvuo et al, 1985b;Rauscher et al, 1992;Tiihonen et al, 1993;Martikainen et al, 1994;Grunstein et al, 1995;Grunstein, 1996;Young et al, 1996Young et al, , 1997Fuyuno et al, 1999;Hu et al, 1999Hu et al, , 2000Bixler et al, 2000;Franklin et al, 2000;Lavie et al, 2000;Peppard et al, 2000;Leineweber et al, 2003).…”