SNORING, ASTHMA AND SLEEP DISTURBANCE IN BRITAIN - A COMMUNITY-BASED SURVEY

A questionnaire was sent to a random sample of adults in eight locatio ns throughout Britain, to investigate the prevalence of snoring, asthm a and sleep complaints in community-based British adult. Of the 1,478 respondents (831 females, 647 males; mean+/-SD age 45+/-18 yrs), 37% r eported snoring at least occasionally, and 11% reported snoring on at least four nights per week (frequent snorers). Frequent snorers report ed spending less time asleep at night, falling asleep accidentally dur ing the day more often, taking planned daytime naps, and falling aslee p whilst driving or operating machinery more often than the other resp ondent. Using ordinal logistic regression analysis to allow for the ag e and sex of the respondents, both accidental daytime sleep and planne d day. time naps were commoner in frequent snorers than other responde nts. Six percent of all respondents and 6% of those aged under 40 yrs reported that they had asthma (asthmatics). Seven percent of responden ts aged less than 40 yrs reported wheezing on three or more occasions per year, and had been prescribed oral or inhaled bronchodilators (you ng wheezers). More than 80% of the asthmatic respondents of all ages, and young wheezers, reported waking at night with wheeze at least occa sionally, and more than 30% of each group reported this symptom freque ntly. A larger proportion of asthmatics and young wheezers reported th at their night-time sleep was unrefreshing, and that they had too litt le sleep at night than the other respondents. A higher prevalence of f requent snoring was reported among asthmatics under 40 yrs, and among young wheezers, compared to other respondents under 40 yrs, and this c ould not be explained by differences in body mass index between the gr oups. These differences in sleep quality were independent of effects o f age and sex. We conclude that the prevalence of snoring is similar i n Britain to that reported in other countries, and that asthmatics and young wheezers have a higher prevalence of frequent snoring than non- asthmatic adults.