Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Non-Obese Patients

The major predisposing factor for obstructive sleep apnea is excess body weight. But a study (#0565) being presented as a poster later this morning confirms a high prevalence of OSA in non-obese, adult patients who were referred to a sleep center for overnight polysomnography; the primary cause for referral was a complaint of excessive daytime sleepiness.

Each patient was 18 years of age or older; 57 percent were men. Patients were considered non-obese if they had a body mass index (BMI) of 18.5 to 27. Results show that OSA was diagnosed in 2,906 of the 5,426 non-obese patients (54 percent) who were evaluated by polysomnography at one of 18 sleep centers.

You can download the SLEEP 2009 abstract supplement as an 11 MB file in PDF format.

Wired Teens, Sleep Loss & Obesity

A study (#0320) being presented as a poster later this morning shows that excessive use of technology by children and teens may be related to both sleep loss and obesity. The study involved 320 students between the ages of 10 and 18 years. Results show that children who had more hours of “screen time” (TV, Internet, computer and video games) got less sleep and consumed more caffeine. Having a shorter sleep duration was associated with a higher body mass index (BMI).

A similar study (#0200) was presented yesterday and published in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics. Read a summary of the study on the Sleep Education Blog.

You can download the SLEEP 2009 abstract supplement as an 11 MB file in PDF format.

Sleep, Obesity & Diabetes in Black and White

Three studies being presented later this morning as posters examine the relationship between race and sleep.

One study (#0463) reports that race significantly influences the risk of obesity conferred by short sleep duration, with blacks having a higher risk than whites. Results show that the prevalence of both short sleep and obesity was higher in black Americans than in white Americans.

Another study (#0459) used the same sample to show that both short and long sleepers are at great risk for diabetes. The prevalence of diabetes was 12 percent for blacks and eight percent for whites.

A third study (#1197) shows that whites were more likely to report having excessive daytime sleepiness more than five days per month, but African Americans had a significantly higher risk of daytime sleepiness using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale.

You can download the SLEEP 2009 abstract supplement as an 11 MB file in PDF format.