Publication:

A cross-sectional study to assess burden of obstructive sleep apnoea among type 2 diabetic patients attending urban health centre in an urban slum of south India

Background Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is repetitive episodes of partial (hypopnea) or complete (apnoea) upper airway obstruction during sleep, resulting in a reduction or stoppage of airflow, followed by awakenings from sleep. Numerous studies, have concretely established relationships between OSA, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and obesity. As the obesity epidemic continues in India, the prevalence of OSA and T2DM will increase. Many patients with T2DM have OSA, but unfortunately majority of them don't know it and remain undiagnosed especially in urban slums. OSA must be detected and treated immediately instead of waiting for years to decide whether there is a problem or not. Hence, the present study was done. Objective of the study is to assess the magnitude of OSA among the type 2 diabetic patients attending urban health centre (UHC) of an urban slum.

Methods This was a cross-sectional study done in an UHC of an urban slum in South India. The sample size was 71. After obtaining written informed consent, the data was collected from previously diagnosed T2DM patients attending UHC using a validated structured questionnaire (STOPBANG and ESS) by interview technique.

Results 66.2% of subjects had high risk of OSA (35.2% had intermediate risk and 31.0% had severe risk of OSA). 40.8% had excessive daytime sleepiness, EDS (22.5% of participants had abnormal/severe EDS, 18.3% had moderate EDS).

Conclusions Nearly two third of T2DM patients had high risk of OSA and half of them had EDS, which was not detected earlier during their routine visits to hospitals in urban slum.