Importance of a survey study among pregraduated medical students about attitudes and knowledge of obstructive sleep apnea

RATIONALE In a survey conducted among Latin American primary care physicians using Obstructive Sleep Apnea Knowledge and Attitudes (OSAKA) questionnaire, we found a 60% of knowledge, and 50% knew about hypertension and OSA association. This phenomenon may reflect a lack of education about sleep disorders at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The aim of this study was to assess knowledge and attitudes about OSA among Ecuadorian pregraduated students. METHODS Observational, cross sectional study using a validated Spanish version of OSAKA questionnaire, among pregraduated medical students, whose were attending internship in hospitals of Guayaquil. We used descriptive statistics for data analysis. RESULTS 68 subjects were recruited. The mean of age was 24.66 years old (SD 2.68). 60.3% (41) of them were males, 70.6% (48) were students of public university. The mean knowledge score was 50.9% (SD 12.42). 32.4% (22) of students knew OSA-hypertension association, 54.4% (37) were aware of cardiac arrhythmias. Moreover, 79.4% (54) correctly answered polysomnography is gold standard for diagnosis, although only 16.2% (11) knew an apnea hypopnea index lower than 5 is normal. 54.5% (37) of interns had a high attitude towards feeling confident in identifying patients with OSA. Barely 33.8% (23) of students considered OSA an important disease. CONCLUSION There is a poor knowledge of OSA among Latin-American pregraduate medical students, especially concerning OSA and cardiovascular risk. This could contribute to underdiagnosis and its complications. Thus, it is necessary to improve our education about sleep apnea since medical school training.