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. 2021 May 17;26(1):347–353. doi: 10.1007/s11325-021-02399-9

Table 2.

Comparison of patients’ characteristics and polysomnographic variables between REM-predominant OSA and REM-isolated OSA patients

REM-predominant OSA (n = 395) REM-isolated OSA (n = 79) p Value
Age (years) 57 (46, 70) 58 (44, 69) 0.568
Male (%) 236 (59.7) 39 (49.4) 0.104
BMI (kg/m2) 25.6 (22.8, 29.3) 23.4 (21.5, 25.8)  < .001*
ESS (points) 8 (5, 11) 6 (4, 11) 0.115
PSQI (points) 7 (5, 11) 9 (6, 13.5) 0.030*
TST (min) 455.0 (433.0, 487.0) 457.0 (441.0, 493.5) 0.536
Percentage of REM sleep/TST (%) 16.8 (12.1, 20.8) 17.4 (12.0, 23.2) 0.165
Percentage of N1 sleep/TST (%) 29.1 (19.4, 42.0) 21.0 (14.6, 34.2)  < .001*
Percentage of N2 sleep/TST (%) 51.9 (39.4, 61.3) 57.2 (49.1, 65.7)  < .001*
Percentage of N3 sleep/TST (%) 0 (0, 0.3) 0 (0, 0.2) 0.800
AHI (events/h) 17.6 (11.5, 25.5) 6.8 (5.9, 7.9)  < .001*
AHI-REM (events/h) 42.1 (29.1, 55.6) 22.3 (17.7, 33.4)  < .001*
AHI-NREM (events/h) 12.9 (8.1, 19.4) 3.8 (2.9, 4.2)  < .001*
Nadir SpO2 (%) 83.0 (78.0, 87.0) 88.0 (84.0, 91.0)  < .001*
CT90 (%) 0.8 (0.1, 2.3) 0.1 (0, 0.5)  < .001*
PLMI (events/h) 0 (0, 10.4) 0 (0, 9.2) 0.973
ArI (events/h) 24.5 (18.1, 32.1) 18.8 (13.7, 25.1)  < .001*
Components of arousal threshold score
AHI < 30 events/h (%) 340 (86.1) 79 (100)  < .001*
Proportion of hypopneas > 58.3 (% of all events) 306 (77.5) 59 (74.7) 0.660
Nadir SpO2 > 82.5% (%) 208 (52.7) 66 (83.5)  < .001*
Proportion with arousal threshold score ≥ 2 (%) 305 (77.2) 74 (93.7)  < .001*
Male (%) 179 (75.8) 36 (92.3) 0.021*
Female (%) 126 (79.2) 38 (95.0) 0.019*
Medication
Hypnotics (%) 126 (31.9) 38 (48.1) 0.007*
Antidepressants (%) 31 (7.8) 15 (19.0) 0.006*
Antipsychotics (%) 19 (4.8) 8 (10.1) 0.104

Continuous variables are expressed as medians and interquartile ranges (25th percentiles, 75th percentiles). Categorical variables are expressed as numbers (percentages). *p < 0.05

AHI apnea–hypopnea index, ArI arousal index, BMI body mass index, ESS Epworth Sleepiness Scale, N1 sleep stage 1, N2 sleep stage 2, N3 sleep stage 3, OSA obstructive sleep apnea, PSQI Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, REM rapid eye movement, SpO2 peripheral capillary oxygen saturation, TST total sleep time