The role of oxygen saturation measurement and body mass index in distinguishing between non-apnoeic snorers and patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome M. U ¨ NAL,  L. O ¨ ZTU ¨ RK y & A. KANIK z  University of Mersin, School of Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Mersin, yUniversity of Kadir Has, School of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Sleep Laboratory, I ˙ stanbul, Turkey, and zUniversity of Mersin, School of Medicine, Department of Biostatistics, Mersin, Turkey Accepted for publication 21 May 2002 U ¨ NAL M ., O ¨ ZTU ¨ RK L . & KANIK A . (2002) Clin. Otolaryngol. 27, 344–346 The role of oxygen saturation measurement and body mass index in distinguishing between non-apnoeic snorers and patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome The aim of this study was to examine the role of oxygen saturation (SaO 2 ) measurement in identifying apnoeic snorers from non-apnoeic snorers and in the assessment of the severity of obstructive sleep apnoea. Ninety-two patients with clinically suspected obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) were assessed, using overnight polysomnography. The patients were classified as follows: 14 patients were non-apnoeic snorers, 27 patients had mild OSAS, 31 patients had moderate OSAS and 20 patients had severe OSAS. Minimum SaO 2 level, mean SaO 2 , time below 85% of SaO 2 , the ratio between the time SaO 2 and total sleep time and body mass index (BMI) were assessed retrospectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the non-apnoeic group and OSAS patients in Min SaO 2 (P ¼ 0.03). Patients who had Min SaO 2 above 85% could be evaluated as non-apnoeic snorers; however, SaO 2 and BMI were not found to be useful in the assessment of the severity of OSAS. Keywords obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome polysomnography oxygen saturation diagnosis The obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is character- ized by snoring, frequent apnoea and hypopnoea, oxygen desaturation during sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness. 1 OSAS is remarkably common in the middle-aged adult popu- lation (2–4%) and has been demonstrated to cause an increased mortality and morbidity probably due to cardiovas- cular diseases and stroke. 2,3 Also several studies have demon- strated that OSAS is a progressive disease, it is therefore of great importance that these individuals be identified and treated. 4 Polysomnography is the only widely accepted diag- nostic method for OSAS but a complete overnight study is very time consuming, labour intensive and expensive. 3,4 This situation is especially important in view of the cost; we need some cheap and accurate methods to differentiate apnoeic snorers from non-apnoeic snorers. The aim of this study is to examine the role of oxygen saturation (SaO 2 ) in identifying apnoeic snorers and assessing the severity of the disease. Patients and methods Ninety-two men with clinically suspected sleep apnoea parti- cipated in the study. The mean age of the patients was 47.8 years (range 33–60). All the patients were asked to answer a questionnaire that included questions about symp- toms of OSAS, medical history and social habits. The criteria for exclusion were the existence of neurological disease and regular use of central nervous system active drugs, a recent upper airway disease, and significant abnormalities of the facial skeleton or the upper airway. Clinical assessment included measurement of body height and weight for body mass index (BMI) calculation, and a complete ear nose and throat examination. Overnight polysomnographic recording (EMBLA, Flaga) in- cluded central and occipital electroencephalogram, submental Clin. Otolaryngol. 2002, 27, 344–346 344 # 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd Correspondence: Dr Murat U ¨ nal, Mersin Universitesi Tip Fakultesi Hastanesi, Kulak Burun Bogaz Anabilim Dali, Zeytinlibahce cad., 33070, Mersin, I ˙ C ¸EL, Turkey (e-mail: muunal@hotmail.com).