Resumen

FLORES-BADILLA, Alejandra  y  ALVARADO-GONZALEZ, Alcibey. San Juan de Dios Hospital’s experience in Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Acta méd. costarric [online]. 2014, vol.56, n.1, pp.12-16. ISSN 0001-6002.

Objectives: To identify the epidemiological characteristics of the patients studied in the San Juan de Dios Hospital, Costa Rica, from January 2005 to December 2011, under suspicion of having obstructive sleep apnea. Methods: This is a retrospective and descriptive study, done between January 2005 and December 2011. Epidemiological information was taken from the medical records of the patients studied in the Pulmonary Medicine Department of the San Juan de Dios Hospital, under suspicion of suffering from obstructive sleep apnea. Results: 182 records of patients were examined, showing that 88% of them suffered from obstructive sleep apnea. The disease appears predominantly in a minor to moderate level on females and in a severe level on males. The study exhibited that both age and body mass index, have a direct correlation with the possibility of obstructive sleep apnea (p < 0.01). The main comorbidities related to Obstructive Sleep Apnea are: hypertension (55.5%) and diabetes mellitus (40.3%), regardless of the severity of the disease. Patients with severe cases showed a higher value in the Epworth scale. No relevant relation was found between obstructive sleep apnea and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute myocardial infarction, stroke and arrhythmia. Conclusions: This is the first study done in Costa Rica related to obstructive sleep apnea. The Polysomnography proved to be an effective diagnosis method, and therefore, it should be implemented in other hospitals of the social security system, in order to determine the prevalence of the illness and provide the correct treatment with continuous positive airways pressure. The epidemiological results are similar to the ones described in the international literature with regard to risk factors and concomitant diseases.

Palabras clave : obstructive sleep apnea; polysomnography; continuous positive airway pressure.

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