Correlation of sleep apnea syndrome with the age and body weight: A report of 116 cases

Objective: To investigate the correlation between sleep apnea syndrome(SAS) and the age and body weight.Methods: One hundred and sixteen patients with SAS were diagnosed by polysomnography(PSG) and classified into the aged group and middle-aged group,the obesity group and non-obesity group.Results: The apnea hypopnea index(AHI),longest apnea time(LAT) and mean apnea time(MAT) of the obesity group were significantly higher than those of the non-obesity group,and the index of lowest arterial O₂ saturation(LSaO₂) and mean arterial O₂ saturation(MSaO₂) were lower than those of the non-obesity group(P<0.005 to P<0.001).Both the body mass index(BMI) and neck circumference were lower in the aged group than in the middle-aged group(P<0.01 to P<0.005);AHI,LAT and MAT were lower in the aged group comparatively.LSaO₂ and MSaO₂ were significantly higher in the aged group than those in the middle-aged group(P<0.05 to P<0.005).Conclusions: The severity of SAS is positively correlated with body weight and negatively correlated with age.