Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Sep;29(5):585-590.
doi: 10.4314/ejhs.v29i5.8.

A Look into Obstructive Sleep Apnea among Ethiopians

Asefa Mekonnen  1 , Monika Gasiorek  2 , Marc Key  1 , Gregory Stimac  2
Affiliations

A Look into Obstructive Sleep Apnea among Ethiopians

Asefa Mekonnen et al. Ethiop J Health Sci. 2019 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is prevalent throughout the world. However, there are currently limited data concerning the prevalence of OSA in populations that originate from developing countries; the prevalence of OSA is expected to rise in these countries. OSA is poorly characterized amongst Ethiopians, and our study is the first to describe clinical characteristics of OSA among Ethiopians.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of primarily Ethiopian patients at an internal medicine clinic in Rockville, Maryland. All patients (n=24) were evaluated for daytime sleepiness using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and received physical examinations and polysomnograms (PSG) by either portable monitoring (Itamar WatchPAT 200 device) or in-lab. Statistical analyses were performed in R.

Results: Linear regression model of Body-Mass Index (BMI) and Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) indicated that for every 1-unit increase in BMI, there was a 0.8657-unit increase in AHI (p<0.05). Pearson's correlation coefficient indicateda positive linear relationship between BMI and AHI (0.47) (p<0.05). Adjusted linear regression model for AHI and oxygen saturation indicated that for every 1-unit increase of AHI, there was a 0.8452-unit decrease in nocturnal oxygen saturation (p<0.05). Pearson's correlation coefficient did not demonstrate significance between AHI and oxygen desaturation (p=0.062). Patients received either continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) (n=15) or oral appliance therapy (n=3).

Conclusion: All patients who complied with therapy reported improved sleep quality, snoring resolution, and improved daytime alertness. Practitioners in developing countries should suspect OSA in the right clinical setting and offer diagnostic and therapeutic services when available.

Keywords: Apnea; Continuous Positive Airway Pressure; Ethiopia; Obstructive; Sleep; Sleep Apnea.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Natale E, Pistono M. Obstructive sleep apnea: How to diagnose and treat this ever more common disorder. J Cardiovasc Med. 2017;18(suppl 1):e30–e34. - PubMed
    1. Kapur VK, Auckley DH, Chowdhuri S, et al. Clinical practice guideline for diagnostic testing for adult obstructive sleep apnea: An American academy of sleep medicine clinical practice guideline. J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(3):479. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Defining Adult Overweight and Obesity | Overweight & Obesity | CDC. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/defining.html.
    1. Sleep Apnea Information for Clinicians. American Sleep Apnea Association; 2017. Available from: https://www.sleepapnea.org/learn/sleep-apneainformation-clinicians/
    1. Adewole OO, Hakeem A, Fola A, et al. Obstructive sleep apnea among adults in Nigeria. J Natl Med Assoc. 2009;101(7):720. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources