A sleep disorder characterized by repetitive obstruction of the upper airway despite the presence of respiratory effort, resulting in oxygen desaturations and arousals during sleep.
Published in Chapter:
Applying Cross Approximate Entropy to Blood Oxygen Saturation and Heart Rate from Nocturnal Oximetry in Screening for Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Daniel Álvarez (University of Valladolid, Spain), Roberto Hornero (University of Valladolid, Spain), María García (University of Valladolid, Spain), Félix del Campo (Hospital Universitario del Rio Hortega of Valladolid, Spain), and Miguel López (University of Valladolid, Spain)
Copyright: © 2008
|Pages: 10
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-889-5.ch011
Abstract
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome is a major sleep-related breathing disorder, affecting 1% to 5% of adult men in western countries (Young, Peppard, & Gottlieb, 2002). This disease is now the most common respiratory referral to many sleep units (Douglas 2002). OSA syndrome is associated with excessive daytime sleepiness, neurocognitive deficits, and psychological problems. A significant number of patients with suspicion of OSA present mild to severe symptoms of depression (Schwartz, Kohler, & Karatinos, 2005). OSA syndrome is also a risk factor for cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality (Leung and Bradley 2001). People with OSA have higher risk of sudden death due to cardiac causes during sleep than the general population (Gami, Howard, Olson, & Somers, 2005). Furthermore, subjects with OSA present an increased risk of being involved in traffic and work accidents (Barbé, Pericas, Muñoz, Findley, Anto, & Agustí, 1998).