{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.034294621979735, 'fraction_numerical': 0.010911925175370226, 'mean_word_length': 4.68141592920354, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 2, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Prevalence of obstructive sleep apnoea in a sample of obese women: effect of menopause.

BACKGROUND
Obesity is a well known risk factor for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Previous studies have investigated the prevalence of OSA among obese people, but a sample of women was rarely studied.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the anthropometric and polysomnographic characteristics of a sample of obese women and investigate the effect of menopause on the prevalence of OSA.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
Using a full-night polysomnography we studied a sample of 133 obese women with a body mass index (BMI) > or = 30 kg/m2.


RESULTS
About 44% of our sample had a respiratory disturbance index (RDI) > or = 10. Neck circumference, BMI and age resulted the strongest predictors of RDI value. We also found that the prevalence of OSA was higher among post-menopausal women (67%) in comparison with pre-menopausal women (31%). Moreover, post-menopausal women had larger neck circumference and higher waist-to-hip circumference ratio (WHR).


CONCLUSIONS
Among post-menopausal obese women the prevalence of OSA increases. We suggest that menopause could cause a different body fat distribution with an increase of fat in upper parts of the body and, consequently, with an increase of neck circumference.