PREVALENCE OF OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNOEA IN ODISHA POPULATION-A CAMP BASED QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

BACKGROUND Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a disorder of most serious form among the sleep disordered breathing, which has become highly prevalent and negatively affects the quality of life. Its prevalence globally is reported to be >= 4% of men and >= 2% of women and affects mostly the obese individuals. Asymptomatic OSA has also been reported to be independently associated with an increased morbidity and mortality. Hence, it becomes a prime concern for health care personnel to diagnose it at the earliest. Among the various screening tools available to diagnose the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), it has been proved to be most accurate. Thus, this study was taken up to assess the prevalence of OSA in Odisha population using Epworth Sleepiness Scale. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total no. of 1012 subjects were selected using random sampling technique from various community health camps for the study. The subjects were asked to fill in the questionnaire for Epworth Sleepiness Scale. All questionnaire respondents were precisely briefed about this study in a face-to-face interview. The data obtained from the survey was subjected to statistics and descriptive analysis was done. RESULTS ESS score was found to be the highest in the age group above 70 (18.8%) followed by age group 50 - 59 (17.7%). ESS in 40 - 49 years' age group was 13% and 11.4% for the age group 40 - 49 years. ESS was least for the age group 60 - 69 years (10.8%). Gender-wise distribution of OSA based on the ESS was seen to be highest among males (14.2%) and females showed a prevalence of 11.7%. CONCLUSION This study is the first epidemiological survey done in Odisha population identifying a higher prevalence of OSA with age. OSA was found to be highly prevalent among males in comparison to females.