@article{ref1,
title="Prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: a single-center retrospective study",
journal="International journal of environmental research and public health",
year="2021",
author="Santilli, Manlio and Manciocchi, Eugenio and D'Addazio, Gianmaria and Di Maria, Erica and D'Attilio, Michele and Femminella, Beatrice and Sinjari, Bruna",
volume="18",
number="19",
pages="e10277-e10277",
abstract="Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a sleep breathing disorder that often remains undiagnosed and untreated. OSAS prevalence is increasing exponentially. Starting on the dentist's role as an epidemiological and diagnostic &quot;sentinel&quot;, the purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of OSAS. The clinical diaries of 4659 patients were reviewed through a single-center retrospective analytic study. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed. Only 0.26% of patients reported to suffer from sleep apnea and were then diagnosed with OSAS. It was found that, out of 4487 patients, 678 suffered from hypertension (14.80%), 188 from gastro-esophageal-reflux-disease (GERD = 4.10%) and 484 from gastritis (10.78%). These results could be related to a difficult diagnosis of OSAS and to the absence of a dedicated section on sleep disorders in medical records. Therefore, the introduction of a question dedicated to sleep disorders, the administration of questionnaires (such as the STOP-BANG questionnaire) for early diagnosis, a multidisciplinary approach and pneumological examination could support the dentist in identifying patients at risk of OSAS.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1661-7827",
doi="10.3390/ijerph181910277",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910277"
}