Correlations between daytime sleepiness, arterial hypertension and the degree of apnea in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Abstract

Abstract BACKGROUND. Sleep-breathing disorders are increasingly common in the general population, affecting the quality of life from many points of view. Patients with sleep-disordered breathing have a series of comorbidities, including arterial hypertension, which affects the quality of life also through the collateral manifestations of daytime sleepiness. MATERIAL AND METHODS. A descriptive study was conducted on a group of 134 patients who underwent investigations to determine the degree of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) by respiratory polygraphic and polysomnographic investigations. This group was also investigated from the point of view of blood pressure values as well as the degree of daytime sleepiness, an important element for the quality of life. RESULTS. The average age of the evaluated patients was 42.18±12.70 years, and the body mass index was 31.20±5.74 kg/m2. The assessment of systemic blood pressure indicated an increased value above its standard normal value in most subjects: 58 patients (43.9%) were included in stage I hypertension, 9.8% in stage II, 1.5% of the subjects were diagnosed with stage III hypertension. To describe the relationship between OSAS and quality of life assessed by the degree of daytime sleepiness, we performed the regression and correlation analysis. The dependence between the values of the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and the ESS (the degree of daytime sleepiness) was positive; an increase in the AHI implies an increase in the ESS, thus a decrease in the quality of life. CONCLUSION. We can conclude that the severity of OSAS is directly involved in establishing the degree of arterial hypertension. Moreover, early detection is essential in order to decrease the degree of daytime sleepiness and implicitly increase the quality of life.