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Correlations Between Waist and Neck Circumferences and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Characteristics

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Abstract

Purpose

The body mass index (BMI), an estimate of body fat, provides a rather imprecise indication of risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We examined whether other measures, including waist and neck circumferences, provide improved indicators of risk in treatment-naïve OSA subjects.

Methods

We studied 59 OSA subjects [age, 48.8 ± 10.0 years; BMI, 31.9 ± 6.6 kg/m2; apnea–hypopnea index (AHI), 38.5 ± 23.0 events/h; sleep-efficiency index (SEI, n = 52), 78.6 ± 14.4%; lowest oxygen saturation (SaO2 nadir), 79.5 ± 8.0%; systolic blood pressure (BP), 127.4 ± 15.7 mmHg; diastolic BP, 80.1 ± 9.1 mmHg; 43 male], and determined waist and neck circumferences (waist, 107.4 ± 15.3 cm; neck, 41.8 ± 4.7 cm), daytime sleepiness [Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), 8.7 ± 4.6], sleep quality [Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), 8.5 ± 4.1], depression levels [Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), 6.6 ± 5.7], and anxiety levels [Beck anxiety inventory (BAI), 6.2 ± 7.2]. We used partial correlation procedures (covariates, age, and gender) to examine associations between BMI, and waist and neck circumferences vs. AHI, sleep, and neuropsychological variables.

Results

BMI, and waist and neck circumferences were significantly correlated with SaO2 nadir (BMI; r = − 0.423, p = 0.001; waist; r = − 0.457, p < 0.001; neck; r = − 0.263, p = 0.048), AHI (BMI; r = 0.349, p = 0.008; waist; r = 0.459, p < 0.001; neck; r = 0.276, p = 0.038), and systolic BP (BMI; r = 0.354, p = 0.007; waist; r = 0.321, p = 0.015; neck; r = 0.388, p = 0.003). SEI was significantly correlated with waist circumference (r = 0.28, p = 0.049), but higher with BMI (r = 0.291, p = 0.04).

Conclusions

No other significant waist or neck correlations emerged. This study suggests that waist and neck measures correlate better than BMI with select disease severity (SaO2 nadir and AHI) in OSA subjects. The findings offer an easily measured, ancillary means to assess OSA risk.

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Abbreviations

AHI:

Apnea–hypopnea index

AI:

Arousal index

BAI:

Beck Anxiety Inventory

BDI-II:

Beck Depression Inventory (II)

BMI:

Body mass index

BP:

Blood pressure

ESS:

Epworth sleepiness scale

HR:

Heart rate

MoCA:

Montreal cognitive assessment

OSA:

Obstructive sleep apnea

PSG:

Polysomnography

PSQI:

Pittsburgh sleep quality index

SaO2 nadir:

Lowest oxygen saturation rate

∆SaO2 :

SaO2 baseline–SaO2 nadir

SEI:

Sleep-efficiency index

TMT:

Trail-making tests

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mr. Luke Ehlert, Ms. Karen A. Harada, and Ms. Kelly A. Hickey for their assistance with data collection.

Funding

This research work was supported by National Institutes of Health R01 HL-113251 and R01 NR-015038.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California at Los Angeles, 56-141 CHS, 10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1763, USA

    Chloe Tom, Ruchi Vig & Rajesh Kumar

  2. UCLA School of Nursing, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Bhaswati Roy & Mary A. Woo

  3. Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Daniel W. Kang

  4. Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Ravi S. Aysola

  5. Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Ronald M. Harper

  6. Department of Radiological Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Rajesh Kumar

  7. Department of Bioengineering, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Rajesh Kumar

  8. Brain Research Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Ronald M. Harper & Rajesh Kumar

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  1. Chloe Tom
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Correspondence to Rajesh Kumar.

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Chloe Tom and Bhaswati Roy are equally first co-author.

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Tom, C., Roy, B., Vig, R. et al. Correlations Between Waist and Neck Circumferences and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Characteristics. Sleep Vigilance 2, 111–118 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41782-018-0041-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41782-018-0041-1

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