Correlation between abdominal visceral fat and laryngopharyngeal reflux in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

PURPOSE: To research the correlation between abdominal visceral fat and laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

METHODS

This study included 72 OSA patients, and the correlation between abdominal visceral fat and the severity of LPR was analyzed after abdominal visceral fat area (VFA) was measured according to body composition analysis and reflux symptom index (RSI) score was completed. Finally, in order to further clarify the effect of VFA on LPR, multiple linear regression analysis was performed on the collected related parameters.

RESULTS

Partial correlation analysis showed that the VFA was positively correlated with the RSI score (r = 0.502, p < 0.001) after controlling for apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), body mass index (BMI), lowest oxygen saturation (LSO₂), age, and sex. The multiple linear regression analysis indicated that VFA and AHI were the factors influencing LPR (t = 4.678, p < 0.001; t = 3.164, p = 0.002).

CONCLUSION

Our study found that VFA was associated with RSI score in OSA patients, but BMI didn't show an independent correlation with RSI score. This indicated that we should pay attention to the effect of abdominal visceral fat on LPR in OSA patients, and more experiments are needed in the future to clarify the relationship between the two.