Study objectives: Mitigating gender inequality in the diagnosis and management of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is of paramount importance. Historically, the diagnostic criteria for SDB were based on male physiology and did not account for variations in disease manifestation based on sex. Some payors use a definition of hypopnea that requires a 4% oxygen desaturation (AHI-4) to determine coverage for treatment, while the criteria recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine requires either a 3% oxygen desaturation or an arousal (AHI-3A). This study examined the diagnostic implications of these two definitions for men and women in a clinical setting.
Methods: We reviewed polysomnography (PSG) reports for all patients who completed a diagnostic PSG study at one sleep disorders center in 2019. Every PSG was scored using both sets of criteria to determine AHI-4 and AHI-3A.
Results: Data from 279 women (64.7%), and 152 men (34.3%) were analyzed. Overall, the mean AHI-4 was 21.9±27.3, and the mean AHI-3A was 34.7±32.3 per hour of sleep. AHI-3A resulted in a diagnostic increase of 30.4% (p=0.001) for women and 21.7% (p=0.006) for men. Women saw a greater increase in diagnosis of mild and moderate SDB, while men saw a greater increase in severe SDB with the AHI-3A compared to the AHI-4 definition.
Conclusions: The definition of hypopnea used in the AHI-3A criteria is more consistent with the pathophysiology of SDB in women and results in higher rates of diagnosis. Use of the AHI-4 criteria may create a sex-based disparity in diagnosis, leading to symptomatic women remaining undiagnosed and untreated.
Keywords: diagnostic criteria; sleep apnea; sleep-disordered breathing; women’s health.
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