Elevated health care utilization in young males adult with obstructive sleep apnea

¹ Sleep-Wake Disorders Unit, Soroka University Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel
² Sleep Disorders Unit, Loewenstein Hospital-Rehabilitation Center, Ra'anana, Israel

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tarasiuk{at}bgu.ac.il.

	Abstract

To explore morbidity and health care utilization (HCU) among young adult males with OSA compared middle-aged OSA patients, over the five-year period preceding diagnosis.

Case-Control prospective study. 117 young (22–39 years) males with OSA were matched with 117 middle-aged (40–64 years) OSA male for body mass index (BMI), apnoea-hypopnea index (AHI), oxygen saturation, arousal and wakening index, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Each OSA patient was matched with controls by age, geographic area and physician.

Young adult males with OSA have no increase for specific comorbidity compared to controls. Middle-aged OSA patients have increased risk for cardiovascular diagnosis (CVD) (OR, 95% CI; 2.1, 1.7–3.8). HCU for all five years was 1.9 times higher among young and middle-aged male OSA patients (p<0.002) than controls. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that hyperlipidemia (7.0; 1.7–29.2) in young adults and BMI >37 (5.6; 1.6–20.1) and CVD (2.7; 1.15–6.3) in middle-aged adults, are the only independent determinants for the upper third, "most costly", OSA patients.

Compared to middle-aged males with OSA in which increased expenditure was related to CVD and BMI, in younger cases utilization was not related to any specific disease.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. Sjosten, J. Vahtera, P. Salo, T. Oksanen, T. Saaresranta, M. Virtanen, J. Pentti, and M. Kivimaki Increased Risk of Lost Workdays Prior to the Diagnosis of Sleep Apnea Chest, July 1, 2009; 136(1): 130 - 136. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]