title: Frequency of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome among patients with epilepsy attending a tertiary neurology clinic.
abstract: Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder with a median lifetime prevalence of 14 per 1000 subjects. Sleep disorders could influence epileptic seizure. The most common sleep disorder is obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) which occurs in 2% of adult women and 4% of adult men in the general population. The aim of this study is to estimate the frequency of OSAS among patients with epilepsy and to study the seizure characteristics among those patients with co-morbid OSAS.
  
  
  
  Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of epilepsy who attended the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital neurology clinic were recruited for the study between June 2011 and April 2012. Patients were screened for OSAS by direct interview using the validated Arabic version of the Berlin questionnaire. Patients identified as high-risk underwent polysomnography.
  
  
  
  A total of 100 patients with epilepsy (55 men and 45 women) were screened for OSAS. Generalized and focal seizure was found in 67% of male and 27% of female patients. Six percent of the participants had epilepsy of undetermined type. Only 9% of the sample was found to have high risk of OSAS based on the Berlin questionnaire. No significant correlation was found between risk of OSAS, type of epilepsy, and anti-epileptic drugs.
  
  
  
  The risk of OSAS was marginally greater in patients with epilepsy compared to the general population with the overall prevalence of 9%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Physiology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Abri
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Asmi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Physiology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
authors.forename: Aisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Shukairi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Physiology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
authors.forename: Arwa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Qanoobi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
authors.forename: Nandhagopal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ramachandiran
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
authors.forename: Povothoor
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman.
authors.forename: Arunodaya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gujjar
keywords: Epilepsy; Obstructive; Sleep Apnea; Snoring
references.citation: Chest. 2013 Feb 1;143(2):291-4
references.pmid: 23381307
references.citation: Epilepsia. 2003 Jun;44(6):836-40
references.pmid: 12790898
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 1993 Apr 29;328(17):1230-5
references.pmid: 8464434
references.citation: Anesthesiology. 2008 May;108(5):822-30
references.pmid: 18431117
references.citation: Epilepsy Res. 2003 May;54(2-3):189-99
references.pmid: 12837570
references.citation: Sleep. 2000 Jun 15;23 Suppl 4:S102-8
references.pmid: 10893080
references.citation: Lancet. 2012 Sep 29;380(9848):1193-201
references.pmid: 23021288
references.citation: BMJ. 1997 Mar 22;314(7084):860-3
references.pmid: 9093095
references.citation: Epilepsy Behav. 2013 Mar;26(3):394-404
references.pmid: 23465654
references.citation: Oman Med J. 2013 Nov;28(6):454-6
references.pmid: 24223253
references.citation: Neurology. 2000;54(5 Suppl 1):S33-7
references.pmid: 10718682
references.citation: Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J. 2011 Aug;11(3):363-8
references.pmid: 22087378
references.citation: Ann Thorac Med. 2011 Oct;6(4):212-6
references.pmid: 21977066
references.citation: Epilepsy Res. 2010 Aug;90(3):171-7
references.pmid: 20570109