Screening for obstructive sleep apnoea in patients suffering from arterial hypertension in Kyrgyz primary care settings

Introduction: Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is a type of sleep-disordered breathing where the walls of the throat relax and narrow during sleep, causing repeated periods where breathing is interrupted. If left untreated, OSA can lead to multiple complications including arterial hypertension and is associated to high morbidity and mortality. In the Kyrgyz Republic (KR) most OSA-cases remain undiagnosed and untreated. The STOP-Bang questionnaire is a concise and easy OSA-screening tool, which has been validated in multiple settings and languages but never used in the KR so far. Aim: to implement the STOP-Bang Questionnaire to screen for OSA in patients with Arterial Hypertension (AH) attending primary care centres throughout the KR. Methods: 2493 patients with AH attending primary care centres in all 7 Kyrgyz districts were screened using the Russian version of the STOP Bang questionnaire adapted to the Kyrgyz language. Results: Of all screened patients, 90.8% were female and 9.2% male. 16.2% (15.9% females and 0.3% males) had a total STOP-Bang score of 1-2 points, indicating low risk for OSA, 59.0% (54.6% females and 4.4% males) had a score of 3-4 points, indicating intermediate risk for OSA and 24.8% (20.3% females and 4.5% males) had a score of 5-8 points, indicating high risk for OSA. Overall, 48.7% of screened men and 22.4% of screened women have a high risk for OSA. Discussion: Despite the difficulty of recruiting male participants, the STOP Bang Questionnaire could be easily and successfully implemented in Kyrgyz primary care settings for OSA-screening. A high prevalence of OSA in patients with AH was estimated. There is a need for national polices to implement routine OSA-screening in primary care, perform sleep investigations in high risk patients and start appropriate treatment when indicated.