Prevalence of SAHS in uncomplicated normal pregnant women in the third trimester

Introduction: The prevalence of sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome (SAHS) defined by an apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) ≥5 / hour in reproductive-age women is only 1-3.4%. Several authors suggest that this ratio increases during pregnancy due to hormonal, physiological and physical changes (specially during the third trimester). However, the prevalence of SAHSdiagnosed by polysomnography (PSG) in pregnant women is still unknown. Aims and Objectives: To assess the prevalence of SAHS (AHI≥5 h -1 ) in uncomplicated singleton pregnant women in the third trimester. Methods: We studied women in the third trimester of pregnancy in a prospective multicenter observational study. Anthropometry data, sleep apnoea symptoms, Epworth scale and the hospital PSG results were analyzed. Exclusion criteria were: steroids treatment, twin pregnancy, SAHS treated with CPAP and Diabetes Mellitus. Results: 84 women were included. They were 31± 2 years old. When the PSG was performed the mean gestational age was 33.4 ± 2.9 weeks and the BMI 27.3 ± 3.7 Kg/m 2 . Although snoring problems were reported in half of the women (51.9%), only 8 pregnant women (9.5%) had an AHI > 5h -1 on PSG. The PSG data are shown in Table 1. Conclusions: Our data show that prevalence of SAHS in late uncomplicated third trimester pregnancy is 9.5%, which it is at least 3 times higher than in non-pregnant reproductive-age women.