The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea in adult patients with sickle cell disease

Purpose: Although few previous studies suggested an increased prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among children with sickle cell disease (SCD) compared to others, there are little data regarding this association in adults. In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of OSA among the patients with SCD and its risk factors. Materials And Methods: This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted at a specialty hematology clinic. From December 2013 to July 2014, all the patients with SCD and chronic anemia were approached. Data were collected on the risk of OSA using the Berlin questionnaire, and the data on daytime sleepiness were collected using the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS); medical history of the patients was also obtained. The objective diagnosis of OSA using polysomnography was performed in a subsample of the study population. Results: The study included 106 patients, 44.3% with SCD and 55.7% with other types of anemia being used as a comparison group. Among the patients with SCD, 14.9% were at a high risk of OSA, and 23% were confirmed to have OSA, whereas 10.1% and 16.7% of those in the comparison group did, respectively. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Mean scores of risk factors for OSA among the patients with SCD with OSA were 28 years for age, 22.1 kg/m 2 for body mass index, 14.5 inches for neck circumference, 122 mmHg for systolic blood pressure, and 6.67 for ESS score. Conclusion: Although not different from chronic anemia, the OSA is a common, coexisting disease in the patients with SCD. Furthermore, it is suspected that the traditional screening tools may miss potential cases of OSA in the SCD population.