High risk of obstructive sleep apnea - Hospital
Description
The clinical records of the patients complying with the selection criteria were reviewed. Socio-demographic data (age, sex, education level, marital status), medical data (past medical history, current medication, and bad habits) were collected, a general physical examination (body weight, height, body mass index, cervical and abdominal circumference), and an otorhinolaryngological examination were performed (septum deviation, turbinate hypertrophy, tonsil size, Friedman tongue position, size and shape of the uvula and palate, and Angle classification). Additionally, the results of Epworth and Berlin questionnaires were compiled, which are part of the routine assessment. These instruments are administered to all patients whatever the reason why they may come to the clinic. We use the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Peruvian version (22), with a value more than 10 indicating somnolence, and the Berlin questionnaire in its Spanish version (23), which indicates a high risk for the OSA syndrome when it shows two or more out of three positive categories
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Patients more than 18 years old attending the service and with a clinical record including available data for the study were included. Patients with craniofacial abnormalities, pregnant women, those with terminal malignant diseases, those with a tracheostomy tube, clinically unstable patients or those with any medical or psychiatric condition that prevented them from responding the study questionnaires were excluded from the investigation. Assuming a 6% prevalence of the Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) syndrome in our population (based on international studies), a minimum sample size comprising 339 patients was calculated. Considering that our outpatient clinic receives a mean number of 1300 patients per month, it was estimated that the study would require only cumulated data for one month. Cases were consecutively selected backward in time until the sample size was completed