ABSTRACT

Sleep disorders are conditions that often interfere with chronic airway diseases and affecting both the course of illness and the quality of life. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is the most common group of sleep-disordered breathing. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on OSAS severity in patients who were retrospectively examined by polysomnographic examination in our sleep clinic and who were diagnosed with OSAS.

We recorded the age, sex, body mass index (BMI), spirometry values, Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) and polysomnographic findings of the patients.

Nine hundred seventy patients with OSAS were included in the study. Patients were divided into 3 groups: only OSAS (86.8%), OSAS with COPD (7.6%) and OSAS with asthma (5.6%). The frequency of COPD and asthma was not higher than in the normal population. The male gender (p=0.001), older age (p=0.001), ESS (p=0.04) and smoking status (p=0.001) were significantly higher in the group with OSAS and COPD. The minimum oxygen saturation which is polysomnography finding was lower than only OSAS group (p=0.004). In the OSAS and asthma association group, female gender and BMI were higher (p=0.001). The polysomnography findings showed that the minimum oxygen saturation was lower than only OSAS group (p=0.04).

The presence of COPD and asthma can affect OSAS in negative way. Male gender, smoking status, older age in terms of COPD; female gender, middle age and presence of atopy, further examination can be done in terms of asthma.

Keywords: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma