TY - JOUR
T1 - Gender differences in the clinical manifestation of obstructive sleep apnea
AU - Ye, Lichuan
AU - Pien, Grace W.
AU - Weaver, Terri E.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2009/12
Y1 - 2009/12
N2 - Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been historically described as a disease primarily of men. However, it is now widely recognized that OSA in women is not as rare as was originally believed. The alarming degree to which OSA is clinically underdiagnosed in women raises the critical concern that women manifest OSA differently. The purpose of this review is to examine the issue of clinically significant gender differences in OSA disease manifestation, which pose unique challenges to diagnosis and management. Within this review, current findings regarding gender differences in OSA polysomnographic features and demographic factors, symptom presentation, functional status, comorbidities, health care utilization, and therapeutic management have been reviewed. Further research in this field is proposed to examine the impact of gender on functional status in individuals with OSA, and the potential gender differences in therapeutic management, particularly the response to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment. Additional studies describing the clinical manifestations in men and women at different levels of OSA severity may substantially contribute to the ability to identify and treat OSA in women across a wide spectrum of disease severity.
AB - Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been historically described as a disease primarily of men. However, it is now widely recognized that OSA in women is not as rare as was originally believed. The alarming degree to which OSA is clinically underdiagnosed in women raises the critical concern that women manifest OSA differently. The purpose of this review is to examine the issue of clinically significant gender differences in OSA disease manifestation, which pose unique challenges to diagnosis and management. Within this review, current findings regarding gender differences in OSA polysomnographic features and demographic factors, symptom presentation, functional status, comorbidities, health care utilization, and therapeutic management have been reviewed. Further research in this field is proposed to examine the impact of gender on functional status in individuals with OSA, and the potential gender differences in therapeutic management, particularly the response to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment. Additional studies describing the clinical manifestations in men and women at different levels of OSA severity may substantially contribute to the ability to identify and treat OSA in women across a wide spectrum of disease severity.
KW - Clinical manifestation
KW - Functional status
KW - Gender differences
KW - Obstructive sleep apnea
KW - Symptom presentation
KW - Therapeutic management
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U2 - 10.1016/j.sleep.2009.02.006
DO - 10.1016/j.sleep.2009.02.006
M3 - Review article
C2 - 19403333
AN - SCOPUS:70350782182
SN - 1389-9457
VL - 10
SP - 1075
EP - 1084
JO - Sleep Medicine
JF - Sleep Medicine
IS - 10
ER -