THE GENDER BIAS IN SLEEP-APNEA DIAGNOSIS - ARE WOMEN MISSED BECAUSE THEY HAVE DIFFERENT SYMPTOMS

Background: Population-based studies have shown that sleep apnea is un derdiagnosed in women, relative to men. One hypothesis for this gender bias is that women with sleep apnea are missed because clinical guide lines for the evaluation and diagnosis of sleep apnea, established pri marily on men, are not valid for women. In this investigation, data fr om the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, a community-based study of the na tural history of sleep apnea, were used to determine whether women wit h sleep apnea have unique symptoms or complaints. Methods: The sample comprised 551 men and 388 women, none of whom had ever been given a di agnosis of sleep apnea. Data on typical sleep apnea symptoms and other factors were obtained by interview and survey. Sleep apnea status was determined from the frequency of apneic and hypopneic events during s leep as recorded by in-laboratory, whole-night polysomnography. The se nsitivity and relative predictive power of each symptom or factor for sleep apnea at different severity levels were calculated and compared by gender. Results: Regardless of severity level, women with sleep apn ea did not report symptoms that differed significantly from those of m en with the same level of sleep apnea. For men and women, snoring was the most sensitive and strongest predictor of sleep apnea. Conclusions : Current clinical indications for sleep apnea evaluation are as appro priate for women as they are for men. Other reasons for the gender dis parity in sleep apnea diagnosis, including the possibility that health care providers disregard typical symptoms in women, should be pursued .