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

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 est...

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Published inRespiration 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
LanguageEnglish
Published Freiburg Karger 2001
Basel S. Karger AG
Paris
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Summary: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.
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ISSN:0025-7931
1423-0356
DOI:10.1159/000050528