Abstract
We performed screening of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) using pulse oximetry in human dry dock. Ninety-four middle-aged men who had any objective symptoms of sleep disorder, such as apnea and loud snoring, underwent pulse oximetry with a finger transducer during one night of sleep. Pulse oximetry data were analyzed by personal computer to calculate oxygen desaturation index (ODI : number of desaturation episodes per hour of examination) . We determined ODI 3% or ODI 4% > =15 as suggesting SAS. Twenty-one men (22.3% of the subjects) were suspected of SAS. A significantly higher percentage of subjects with obesity (p=0.01) or subjective symptoms during sleeping such as sleep disturbance (p=0.02) were suspected of SAS than that of subjects without obesity or subjective symptoms. Six subjects suspected of SAS did not have any subjective symptoms. Blood levels of fasting glucose and HbAlc were also significantly higher in the subjects suspected of SAS than those in subjects not suspected of SAS (p=0.01 and p= 0 respectively) . Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that suspicion of SAS was positively associated with age (p=0.02), body mass index (BMI) (p=0.01), smoking (p=0.03), drinking everyday (p=0.04) and subjective symptoms during sleeping (p=0.01) . In conclusion, using pulse oximetry during sleeping may be a useful and easy-to-use method of screening for SAS in human dry dock. We also found that some lifestyle-related diseases may be associated with SAS. There may be a suspicion of SAS not only in those who have subjective symptoms but also in those who have objective symptoms.
