Pre Eclampsia

Background: This case-control study aimed to assess the prevalence of symptoms and risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among Saudi pregnant women.
Methods: The study included consecutive Saudi pregnant women attending the antenatal service between July 2015 and December 2016. Pregnant women were compared with an age-matched group of non-pregnant women. OSA symptoms and risk were assessed using a validated Arabic version of the Berlin questionnaire (BQ).
Results: The study included 742 pregnant women and 742 age-matched non-pregnant women. At the time of the survey, 8.2% were in the first trimester; 33.4% in the second trimester; and 58.4%in third trimester. Snoring was reported by 14% of pregnant women and 5% reported breathing pauses during sleep. Based on the BQ stratification for risk of OSA, 19.3% of pregnant women and 16.6% of the control group were at high risk for OSA. A comparison between the high OSA-risk and low OSA-risk pregnant women revealed that the pregnant women in high risk group were older (30.9±5.9 years vs. 29±5.4 years, p=0.001), had a higher body mass index (BMI) (34.3±5.2 kg/m2 vs. 28.7±5.8 kg/m2, p<0.001), and higher parity (1.9±2 vs. 1.5±1.7, p=0.020). A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed the following independent variables, BMI (OR 1.173 [95% CI 1.129 - 1.219], p<0.001), PIH (OR 7.85 [95% CI 1.691 - 36.447], p=0.013) and presence of RLS (OR 2.209 [95% CI 1.332 - 3.279], p<0.001).
Conclusions: OSA symptoms and risk were relatively common among Saudi pregnant women. Increasing the awareness among physicians about this association is essential to improve early detection of the disorder.