Witnessed breathing pauses during sleep: A study in middle-aged French males

The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence, the covariates and determinants of respiratory pauses during steep in a sample of French middle-aged mates. Study subjects were 850 active mates, aged 22-66 years; 88.4% of them answered the question on breathing pauses during steep from a structured, validated steep questionnaire. Forty-one ( = 5.4%) subjects reported breathing pauses at [east once a week; these "positive responders" were older, heavier and had larger neck- and waist girths as compared to subjects with negative answers. Loud habitual snoring, various steep disturbances, excessive daytime sleepiness, a doctor diagnosis of steep apnoea, history of stroke and hypertension were significantly more frequent among subjects with breathing pauses during steep. The prevalence found in this survey was close to that reported from the UK (5.2%). However, by logistic regression, we identified novel determinants of breathing pauses i.e. habitual snoring, loud snoring, and excessive sleepiness, factors well known in clinical setting, but never previously reported in epidemiologic studies. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.