Disease Pattern Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Revealed By Data Mining Of Inpatient Records

Main Category: Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia
Also Included In: Ear, Nose and Throat;  Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness;  Respiratory / Asthma
Article Date: 18 Dec 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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A study in the Dec. 15 issue of the is the first to show the full clinical picture of comorbid conditions associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), quantify their frequency of occurrence and reveal their possible interrelationships.

Results show that the number of cases of OSA peaks between the ages of 0-4 years, is low during adolescence, and then rises from 25-29 years to a peak at 55-59 years. The rates are slightly higher for girls than boys in the 0-4 age group (9.4% and 6.7%) and the 5-9 age group (6.0% and 3.9%), and the occurrence rate in males is higher than in females after 20-24 years of age.

According to the study's co-author,Chin Moi Chow , PhD, Senior of health sciences, at the University of Sydney, this study will have a significant impact on the understanding of the disease pattern of OSA and conditions associated with it.

"This research provides a clinical picture of OSA from over six million hospital admissions of all medical conditions and those associated with OSA, and describes its occurrences according to age and gender groups," Chow said.

Findings indicate that OSA patients are high users of health-care services, with comorbid conditions most often involving cardiovascular diseases, endocrine/metabolic diseases (mainly diabetes) and respiratory diseases. Comorbid conditions most frequently appearing with OSA in adults are essential hypertension, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes, past or current tobacco use, and ischemic heart conditions.

Data plotting shows that the onset and peak occurrences of obesity and OSA are identical. From obesity onset there is a latent period of five years for the development of hypertension and type 2 diabetes and 15 years for chronic ischemic heart conditions.

A random dataset from the years 1999 through 2004 was extracted using a Health Outcomes and Information Statistical Toolkit. The data set was a representative collection of hospital records in the Inpatient Data Collection System of New South Wales, the most populated Australian state. The data included patient records from 278 public hospitals and 180 private hospitals.

The extracted dataset contained a total of 1.51 million hospital records. Four percent of all records - representing 60,197 patients - had a principal or secondary diagnosis of OSA, with a male to female ratio of 2.6:1. The authors report that previous knowledge of disease associations with OSA was fragmented and did not explain possible interrelationships between comorbid diseases. The data mining technique was used to provide the full clinical picture of comorbid conditions associated with OSA.

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, OSA is a sleep-related breathing disorder that involves a decrease or complete halt in airflow despite an ongoing effort to breathe. It occurs when the muscles relax during sleep, causing soft tissue in the back of the throat to collapse and block the upper airway. This leads to partial reductions (hypopneas) and complete pauses (apneas) in breathing that can produce abrupt reductions in blood oxygen saturation. Brief arousals from sleep restore normal breathing but can cause a fragmented quality of sleep. Most people with OSA snore loudly and frequently, and they often experience excessive daytime sleepiness.

The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (JCSM) contains published papers related to the clinical practice of sleep medicine, including original manuscripts such as clinical trials, clinical reviews, clinical commentary and debate, medical economic/practice perspectives, case series and novel/interesting case reports. In addition, the JCSM publishes proceedings from conferences, workshops and symposia sponsored by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine or other organizations related to improving the practice of sleep medicine

Study: "Clinical Patterns of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and its Comorbid Conditions: A Data Mining Approach"

AASM is a professional membership organization dedicated to the advancement of sleep medicine and sleep-related research. As the national accrediting body for sleep disorders centers and laboratories for sleep related breathing disorders, the AASM promotes the highest standards of patient care. The organization serves its members and advances the field of sleep health care by setting the clinical standards for the field of sleep medicine, advocating for recognition, diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders.

Source: Kelly Wagner
American Academy of Sleep Medicine