Association of age, gender, obesity and hypertension with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among Filipino obstructive sleep apnea patients undergoing sleep study at St. Luke's Medical Center from 1998-2002

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown a high prevalence of OSA among the middle-aged group, the male gender and among the obese population. The last two years has likewise shown that OSA is a risk factor for hypertensionOBJECTIVE:To determine the association of age, gender, obesity and hypertension with OSA among Filipino OSA patientsMATERIALS AND METHODS:Cross-sectional study from previous records of polysomnography at St. Lukes Medical Center. Chi-square test of association analysis was performed with the level of significance set at 0.05.RESULTS: A significant association between age, male gender, obesity and OSA is observed (p value 0.001). This study showed that hypertension is prevalent among OSA patients (41.3 percent) than those without OSA (33.3 percent), however no statistical significance is noted (p value 0.132).CONCLUSION: The male gender, middle-age group and obesity are strongly associated with OSA in Filipino patients.