Quality of life in obstructive sleep apnea is related to female gender and comorbid insomnia.

PURPOSE: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder affecting health-related quality of life (QoL), and OSA severity is not a reliable indicator for QoL. The aim of this study was (1) to evaluate the impact of gender on QoL and (2) to identify the predictors of QoL in OSA patients.

METHODS: World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale short form (WHOQOL-Bref) was used for evaluating QoL in OSA patients undergoing polysomnography in sleep laboratory of a university hospital.

RESULTS: Out of 197 patients (age 50.4 ± 12.1 years, AHI 38.5 ± 28.4/h), 139 (70.6%) were men and 79.2% had moderate-to-severe OSA. Female gender, increased BMI, higher Epworth sleepiness score (ESS), and lower oxygen saturations were associated significantly with poor QoL in terms of all domains (physical, psychological, social relationship, and environmental) of WHOQOL-Bref questionnaire. The indicators of OSA severity (AHI and ODI) correlated negatively only with the physical domain. The subjects with comorbid insomnia and OSA had lower physical and social scores than subjects with no insomnia, and women with insomnia had significantly worse QoL scores in all domains than the others. In the multivariate linear regression analysis, female gender, comorbid insomnia, increased sleepiness, and higher BMI were significantly associated with poor QoL.

CONCLUSIONS: Female gender, comorbid insomnia, and daytime sleepiness were the outstanding factors affecting health-related QoL negatively in OSA. Besides, the impact of OSA on QoL may be explained by the presence of daytime sleepiness rather than OSA severity.