Prevalence of habitual snoring in a sample of French males : Role of 'Minor' nose-throat abnormalities

• Published in: Respiration Vol. 68; no. 4; pp. 365 - 370
• Main Authors: TECULESCU, D, HANNHART, B, CORNETTE, A, MONTAUT-VERIENT, B, VIRION, J.-M, MICHAELY, J.-P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Freiburg Karger 2001; Basel S. Karger AG; Paris
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anthropometry; Biological and medical sciences; Body Weight; Cross-Sectional Studies; France - epidemiology; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Nasal Obstruction - complications; Non tumoral diseases; Otorhinolaryngology (head neck, general aspects and miscellaneous); Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Palate, Soft - pathology; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Snoring - epidemiology; Snoring - etiology; Snoring - physiopathology; France; Europe; Human; Prevalence; ENT disease; Adult; Exploration; Male; Epidemiology; Snoring
• ISSN: 0025-7931; 1423-0356
• DOI: 10.1159/000050528

No data on snoring prevalence obtained with a standard questionnaire exist for France. Major nose-throat abnormalities have been demonstrated in cases with obstructive sleep apnea; evidence of "minor" abnormalities in community studies is scarce. The first objective of our study was to estimate the prevalence of habitual snoring in a sample of middle-aged active males in France. The second objective was to test the hypothesis that "minor" nose-throat abnormalities could be associated with habitual snoring in a field survey. Three hundred thirty-four male employees of a local university volunteered for the study (93.6% of those contacted by mail); 300 returned a sleep questionnaire. The protocol also included anthropometry and a noninvasive nose-throat examination. Complete data were obtained in 299 subjects aged 23-63 years. When "habitual snorers" (= 32%) were compared with never-snorers, significant differences were found for all anthropometric variables, except height. In univariate analysis, habitual snoring was associated with a large number of variables, including a large soft palate, a large uvula, and altered nose patency. A logistic regression model retained 8 factors independently associated with snoring: age, neck circumference, tobacco consumption, breathing pauses during sleep, not feeling rested during the day, need for coffee to stay awake, blocked or running nose at night and a large soft palate. The prevalence of habitual snoring in this sample of middle-aged French males was 32%. We confirmed the significant association of habitual snoring with age, weight excess, and tobacco smoking, and identified two further factors: blocked nose at night and a large soft palate.