Abstract
Introduction: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is common among Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients, likely due to their increased anatomical obstruction of the upper airway during sleep.
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the association between cephalometric data of the upper airway in RA patients and their risk of OSA.
Materials and methods: The study was conducted on 60 adults with RA followed at rheumatology clinics at a university hospital, from June 2017 to September 2018. The demographic details of the patients, were collected through a personal interview. All patients were then assessed for the risk of OSA using the Berlin questionnaire and then underwent Polysomnography (PSG) to confirm the diagnosis of OSA. Finally, each patient underwent lateral cephalography for cephalometric data acquisition.
Results and discussion: The demographic characteristics showed a female predilection of 93.3%, a mean age of 49.90 +/- 13.52 years, and a mean BMI of 33.12 +/- 9.17 kg/m(2). Thirty-seven (61.7%) participants were at low risk and 23 (38.3%) were at high risk of OSA based on the Berlin questionnaire. However, only 42 patients underwent diagnostic PSG, 29 of whom (69%) were found to have OSA. The cephalometric scores of patients with OSA and those without OSA were not significantly different. Similarly, the correlation between the cephalometric data and the risk of OSA was not significant.
Conclusion: The cephalometric area of the upper airway was not significantly correlated with OSA. Hence, cephalometry is not reliable for predicting the risk of OSA in RA patients.