Sleep apnoea syndrome in Nepal.

Sleep apnoea syndrome is a well recognized entity. Sleep studies of diagnosed patients with sleep apnoea were analyzed to understand the clinical profiles of Nepalese patients with this disorder. Eighty nine patients were diagnosed to have sleep apnoea syndrome during the period of 15 months starting from November 2003. All these patients were subjected to a detailed clinical evaluation including symptoms, presence or absence of other risk factors and co-morbidities, general physical and systemic examination and relevant investigations before performing polysomnography. Clinical profiles of patients who were confirmed to have sleep apnoea syndrome with apnoea hypopnoea index (AHI) more than five were included in the study. Forty one patients (46.1%) were found to have mild disease (AHI 6-20), 22 patients (24.7%) had moderate disease (AHI 21-40) and 26 patients (29.2%) were found to have severe disease. The common symptoms were snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, frequent awakenings, nocturia, and choking spells during sleep. Obesity was found to be the most important risk factor associated with sleep apnoea. Males having collar size more than 16 inches and females with collar size more than 14.5 inches were found to have an increased risk to develop this problem. Hypertension (66.3%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (43.2%) and cardiac diseases (19.1%) were the common co-morbidities associated with this disorder. Sleep apnoea syndrome is not an uncommon problem in Nepalese population. It could be the cause of various cardiovascular problems and may complicate patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.