title: Race/ethnic differences in obstructive sleep apnea risk in patients with acute ischemic strokes in south Florida.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a risk factor for ischemic stroke, but it may differ between race/ethnic groups. The goal of our study was to examine the pre-stroke risk of OSA between three race/ethnic groups admitted for acute ischemic stroke in a tertiary urban hospital in South Florida.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our sample was composed of patients with acute ischemic strokes evaluated at a teaching hospital over a 3-year period. Race/ethnicity was defined by self-identification, modeled after the US census and categorized into non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, and Hispanics. Pre-stroke risk of OSA was assessed with the Berlin questionnaire and categorized into high- or low-risk categories. We performed binary logistic regression to evaluate the pre-stroke risk of OSA in Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks with non-Hispanic whites as the reference, adjusting for age, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, and smoking.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 176 patients with acute ischemic strokes of which 44 % were Hispanics, 44 % non-Hispanic Blacks, and 12 % non-Hispanic whites. A higher frequency of patients at high risk for OSA was seen in 60 % of Hispanics, 54 % of non-Hispanic blacks, and 33 % of non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics (OR, 2.6; 95 % CI 1.1-6.4) had a higher frequency of patients at high risk for OSA compared to non-Hispanic whites, adjusting for covariates. There were no differences between non-Hispanic blacks (OR, 1.2; 0.5-2.9 and non-Hispanic whites.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We observed higher frequency of patients at high risk for OSA in Hispanics with acute ischemic strokes in South Florida.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, 1120 NW 14 Street, suite 1350, Miami, FL, 33136, USA, aramos@med.miami.edu.
authors.forename: Alberto R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guilliam
authors.forename: Salim I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Dib
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D012913:Snoring / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People