Characteristics | | | | | | | |
Age (years) | 42.1 (7.82) | 48.5 (12.7) | 0.0378 | 31.4 (8.82) * | 50.1 (8.27) * | 50.6 (13.8) * | 0.0020 |
BMI (kg/m2) | 24.3 (2.57) | 28.5 (4.54) | 0.0004 | 25.6 (3.29) | 27.4 (3.39) ** | 29.9 (5.08) *** | 0.0003 |
Sleepiness Epworth score (0–24) | 4.76 (3.29) | 11.0 (4.37) | 0.0001 | 13.6 (4.34) ** | 10.9 (3.45) *** | 10.5 (4.89) *** | 0.0001 |
Gag reflex intensity (0–3) | 1.62 (0.52) | 1.54 (0.82) | 0.6809 | 2.10 (0.89) | 1.50 (0.81) | 1.46 (0.80) | 0.4917 |
Tobacco consumption (packs/year) | 13.1 (14.7) | 13.5 (17.0) | 0.9193 | 6.15 (7.94) | 11.4 (11.8) | 16.4 (20.6) | 0.8327 |
Alcohol consumption (drinks/day) | 0.70 (0.74) | 1.88 (2.04) | 0.0377 | 0.51 (0.47) | 1.12 (1.22) | 2.70 (2.36) ** | 0.0079 |
Spicy food consumption (0–3) | 0.79 (0.95) | 1.09 (0.93) | 0.2146 | 0.60 (0.55) | 0.76 (1.03) | 1.44 (0.79) * | 0.0161 |
Sleep study
| | | | | | | |
Mean nocturnal Sao2 (%) | 95.3 (1.16) | 92.7 (2.55) | 0.0001 | 95.5 (1.95) | 93.8 (2.27) * | 91.4 (2.01) *** | 0.0001 |
Minimal nocturnal Sao2 (%) | 91.8 (1.89) | 79.5 (11.2) | 0.0001 | 91.6 (1.82) | 83.6 (9.07) *** | 74.4 (10.8) *** | 0.0001 |
Percentage of time spent below 90% of Sao2 (%) | 0.05 (0.19) | 15.1 (20.4) | 0.0001 | 0.00 (0.00) | 7.81 (16.6) *** | 23.4 (21.4) *** | 0.0001 |
RDI (events/h of sleep) | NA | 47.0 (20.5) | NA | 28.7 (10.7) | 41.4 (16.2) | 54.6 (21.5) | 0.0172 |
AHI (events/h of sleep) | NA | 41.7 (21.3) | NA | 15.6 (5.74) | 32.5 (11.9) | 53.4 (21.0) | 0.0001 |
Apnoea index (events/h of sleep) | NA | 9.54 (13.1) | NA | 0.25 (0.22) | 6.54 (9.05) | 13.5 (15.5) | 0.0026 |
Hypopnoea index (events/h of sleep) | NA | 32.2 (16.7) | NA | 15.3 (5.59) | 26.0 (9.37) | 39.9 (18.2) | 0.0004 |
Flow limitation index (events/h of sleep) | NA | 5.31 (6.48) | NA | 13.2 (5.18) | 8.90 (6.89) | 1.18 (1.97) | 0.0001 |
Obstructive index (events/h of sleep) | NA | 45.3 (19.8) | NA | 26.7 (10.6) | 40.1 (15.9) | 52.6 (20.4) | 0.0128 |
Central index (events/h of sleep) | NA | 1.75 (2.51) | NA | 2.07 (1.36) | 1.37 (2.19) | 1.96 (2.90) | 0.5527 |
Pharyngeal sensitivity
| | | | | | | |
Disappearance threshold at baseline (l/min) | 0.40 (0.19) | 0.85 (0.40) | 0.0001 | 0.70 (0.29) * | 0.77 (0.36) ** | 0.94 (0.43) *** | 0.0005 |
Disappearance threshold after 3 anaesthesias (l/min) | 1.10 (0.30) | 2.47 (1.85) | 0.0002 | 1.59 (0.60) | 2.23 (1.78) * | 2.85 (2.04) *** | 0.0013 |
Disappearance threshold slope (arbitrary unit) | 0.22 (0.09) | 0.54 (0.58) | 0.0778 | 0.28 (0.15) | 0.46 (0.55) | 0.66 (0.64) | 0.2665 |
Appearance threshold at baseline (l/min) | 0.26 (0.06) | 0.62 (0.44) | 0.0003 | 0.28 (0.06) | 0.63 (0.48) *** | 0.67 (0.44) *** | 0.0013 |
Appearance threshold after 3 anaesthesias(l/min) | 0.93 (0.25) | 2.33 (2.03) | 0.0004 | 1.05 (0.15) | 1.95 (1.62) ** | 2.86 (2.33) *** | 0.0010 |
Appearance threshold slope (arbitrary unit) | 0.22 (0.07) | 0.56 (0.57) | 0.0074 | 0.25 (0.05) | 0.42 (0.44) | 0.72 (0.66) ** | 0.0100 |