Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The metabolic syndrome (MS) is a frequent complication of the obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). Its predictive factors have to be known by the doctors setting in charge patients with OSAHS. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the MS and its predictive factors in Tunisian patients with OSAHS.

Methods: A retrospective study including 181 patients with OSAHS from the respiratory D department at the Abderrahmane Mami Ariana hospital Tunisia, between January 2010 and December 2014. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the International Diabetes Federation criteria of 2005. We looked for the MS related factors by univariate then multivariate analysis.

Results: The prevalence of the MS was 68%. The frequency of the MS was highest between 56 and 65 years. Compared to the apneic patients without MS, those with MS were older (55.9±12.82 years vs 51±15.27 years), more frequently women (61% vs 58.6%), and a lower frequency of postmenopausal women (76% vs 80%). But there was no statistical difference for those parameters. The MS was more frequent in patients with a history of hypertension (P<0.05), type 2 diabetes (P<0.0001) and dyslipidemia (P=0.001). Apneic patients with MS had more daytime sleepiness (P=0.04), an epworth score greater than or equal to ten was more observed (71.4% vs 28.6%; P=0.034), an attention disorders (P=0.006) and a higher body mass index (38.02±6.45 kg/m2 vs 35.85±7.75 kg/m2; P=0.05). The MS was more frequent in patients with a pathological Oto-rhino-laryngology examination (65.9% vs 46.6%; P=0.014). By studying the impact of the severity of OSAHS on the occurrence of MS, we found no statistically significant difference.

Conclusion: The prevalence of MS is high in patients with OSAHS. Its occurrence does not correlate with the severity of OSAHS.