SNORING AND BREATHING PAUSES DURING SLEEP - TELEPHONE INTERVIEW SURVEY OF A UNITED-KINGDOM POPULATION-SAMPLE

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of snoring, breathing pauses d uring sleep, and obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome and determine the r elation between these events and sociodemographic variables, other hea lth problems, driving accidents, and consumption of healthcare resourc es. Design: Telephone interview survey directed by a previously valida ted computerised system (Sleep-Eval). Setting: United Kingdom. Subject s: 2894 women and 2078 men aged 15-100 years who formed a representati ve sample of the non-institutionalised population. Main outcome measur es: Interview responses. Results: Forty per cent of the population rep orted snoring regularly and 3.8% reported breathing pauses during slee p, Regular snoring was significantly associated with male sex, age 25 or more, obesity, daytime sleepiness or naps, night time awakenings, c onsuming large amounts of caffeine, and smoking. Breathing pauses duri ng sleep were significantly associated with obstructive airways or thy roid disease, male sex, age 35-44 years, consumption of anxiety reduci ng drugs, complaints of non-restorative sleep, and consultation with a doctor in the past year. The two breathing symptoms were also signifi cantly associated with drowsiness while driving. Based on minimal crit eria of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders (1990), 1. 9% of the sample had obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, In the 35-64 y ear age group 1.5% of women (95% confidence interval 0.8% to 2.2%) and 3.5% of men (2.4% to 4.6%) had obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. Con clusions: Disordered breathing during sleep is widely underdiagnosed i n the United Kingdom. The condition is linked to increased use of medi cal resources and a greater risk of daytime sleepiness, which augments the risk of accidents. Doctors should ask patients and bed partners r egularly about snoring and breathing pauses during sleep.