Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction : Obesity is undeniably a major factor in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Diagnosis of the latter relies on polysomnography, but this test is not widely available. Screening of subjects at risk could be relevant, using tools such as the Berlin Questionnaire.

Objective : To determine the prevalence of symptoms and risk factors for OSAS in a group of obese subjects.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 100 patients being monitored for obesity, who volunteered to complete the Berlin Questionnaire. All subjects benefited from the collection of clinical, anthropometric (weight, height, body mass index (BMI)) and biological data.

Results: Mean age was 48±11 years. Women represented 84% of the sample and men 16%, for a sex ratio of 0,2. Mean BMI was 38.20±6 kg/m². In terms of OSA symptoms, snoring was present in 74 obese subjects, and daytime sleepiness was reported in 31 subjects. The prevalence of hypertension was 44%, and all our patients had a BMI > 30 kg/m². The prevalence of subjects at high risk of OSA was 31% in the overall study population. In univariate analysis, the factors significantly associated with a high risk of OSAS in this population were age (P=0.01), male sex (P< 0.001) and diabetes (P=0.02).

Conclusions: In view of our study, the Berlin Questionnaire could be considered as a first step in screening subjects at risk of OSAS.