title: Obstructive sleep apnea related to rapid-eye-movement or non-rapid-eye-movement sleep: comparison of demographic, anthropometric, and polysomnographic features.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether there are significant differences between rapid-eye-movement (REM)-related obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and non-REM (NREM)-related OSA, in terms of the demographic, anthropometric, and polysomnographic characteristics of the subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective study of 110 patients (75 males) with either REM-related OSA (n = 58) or NREM-related OSA (n = 52). To define REM-related and NREM-related OSA, we used a previously established criterion, based on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI): AHI-REM/AHI-NREM ratio > 2 and ≤ 2, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the patients with REM-related OSA was 49.5 ± 11.9 years, whereas that of the patients with NREM-related OSA was 49.2 ± 12.6 years. The overall mean AHI (all sleep stages combined) was significantly higher in the NREM-related OSA group than in the REM-related OSA group (38.6 ± 28.2 vs. 14.8 ± 9.2; p < 0.05). The mean AHI in the supine position (s-AHI) was also significantly higher in the NREM-related OSA group than in the REM-related OSA group (49.0 ± 34.3 vs. 18.8 ± 14.9; p < 0.0001). In the NREM-related OSA group, the s-AHI was higher among the men. In both groups, oxygen desaturation was more severe among the women. We found that REM-related OSA was more common among the patients with mild-to-moderate OSA, whereas NREM-related OSA was more common among those with severe OSA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that the severity of NREM-related OSA was associated mainly with s-AHI. Our findings suggest that the s-AHI has a more significant effect on the severity of OSA than does the AHI-REM. When interpreting OSA severity and choosing among treatment modalities, physicians should take into consideration the sleep stage and the sleep posture.
authors.affiliation: Pulmonology Department, School of Medicine, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aysel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sunnetcioglu
authors.affiliation: Pulmonology Department, School of Medicine, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bunyamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sertogullarından
authors.affiliation: Pulmonology Department, School of Medicine, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Muğla, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bulent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ozbay
authors.affiliation: Pulmonology Department, School of Medicine, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hulya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gunbatar
authors.affiliation: Pulmonology Department, School of Medicine, Yuzuncu Yil University, Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Selami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ekin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D017286:Polysomnography; D012016:Reference Values; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen