Introduction:

Obesity is a multifactorial epidemic disease that has been constantly increasing in recent years. It associates the development of multiple pathologies with increased morbidity and mortality, including obstructive sleep apnea and hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS).

Objective:

To study the prevalence of OSAHS in a population of obese patients belonging to an Obesity and Bariatric Surgery Program of a public hospital in Montevideo.

Methodology:

Observational descriptive cross-sectional study. Patients in preoperative evaluation were included from April 2015 to March 2020. A polysomnography was performed. The prevalence of OSAHS and the relationship with other cardiovascular risk factors were evaluated. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS version 25.0.

Results:

358 patients were studied, predominantly female (86.3%), mean age of 42.8 ± 10.7 years and mean BMI of 50.1 ± 11.4 kg/m2. A prevalence of OSAHS of 69% was evidenced: 43.3% mild; 23.9% moderate and 32.8% severe. The Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) was positively correlated with the Body Mass Index (BMI) (p=<0.001). The association of OSAHS with arterial hypertension (AHT), diabetes 2 (DM2), male gender and hypertriglyceridemia was demonstrated.

Conclusions:

OSAHS is highly prevalent in obesity. This study suggests screening all obese people, as well as polysomnography or respiratory polygraphy for those who are going to undergo bariatric surgery.

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