title: Age-group-specific associations between the severity of obstructive sleep apnea and relevant risk factors in male and female patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To seek accurate and credible correlation manner between gender, age, and obesity; and the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in large-scale population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Totals of 1,975 male and 378 female OSA patients were sequentially recruited. Centralized covariant tendencies between age, body mass index (BMI), and waist hip ratio (WHR); and OSA severity, were explored in a gender-specific manner via multiple statistical analyses. The accuracies of observed correlations were further evaluated by adaptive multiple linear regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All of age, BMI, WHR, smoking, drinking, and OSA severity differed between males and females. BMI and WHR were positively and (approximately) linearly associated with OSA severity in both males and females. Restricted cubic spline analysis was more effective than was the Pearson correlation approach in correlating age with AHI, and provided age crossover points allowing further piecewise linear modeling for both males and females. Multiple linear regression showed that increasing age was associated with OSA exacerbation in males aged ≤ 40 years and in females aged 45-53 years. BMI, WHR, and diabetes were independently associated with OSA severity in males with age-group-specific pattern. In females, only BMI was associated with OSA severity at all ages.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In male patients, BMI and WHR are prominent risk factors for OSA exacerbation. Age and diabetes are associated with OSA severity in males of particular ages. In females, BMI is also a prominent risk factor for severe OSA, and OSA severity increased with age in the range 45-53 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, the Center Hospital of Minhang District, Minhang District, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xingqi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, the Center Hospital of Minhang District, Minhang District, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, the Center Hospital of Minhang District, Minhang District, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yanyan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, the Center Hospital of Minhang District, Minhang District, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, the Center Hospital of Minhang District, Minhang District, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, the Center Hospital of Minhang District, Minhang District, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiwen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult