Objective: To analyze the correlation between respiratory event duration and nocturnal oxygen saturation (SpO2) in adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and to explore its significance in assessing nocturnal hypoxemia and OSA severity. Methods: A prospective study was conducted on adult OSA patients diagnosed via overnight standard polysomnography (PSG) at the Department of Otolaryngology, First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from June 2019 to December 2023. Data collected included demographic information, PSG reports, scale scores, and comorbidities. Patients were first stratified by apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) severity. Relationships between respiratory event duration parameters,including total apnea-hypopnea time (TAHT), percentage of total sleep time with apnea-hypopnea (AHT%), total apnea time (TAT), total hypopnea time (THT), and mean apnea-hypopnea time (MAHT), and nocturnal SpO₂ parameters, including average SpO₂ (aSpO₂), minimal SpO₂ (mSpO₂), mean oxygen desaturation (MOD), and percentage of total sleep time with SpO₂0.05). Subgrouping severe OSA patients at AHI=50 events/hour revealed significant differences in aSpO2, mSpO2, MOD, and CT90 between groups (Z=-5.011, -4.787, 5.142, 6.117, P<0.05). Conclusions: TAHT, AHT%, and TAT significantly correlate with nocturnal SpO₂ parameters in OSA patients and can supplement AHI in assessing OSA severity. MAHT independently reflects nocturnal oxygenation status beyond AHI.
Wang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.