Irritable bowel syndrome in obstructive sleep apnea: a preliminary Egyptian study

• Main Authors: Adel M. Saeed, Iman H. Galal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2017-11-01
• Series: The Egyptian Journal of Bronchology
• Subjects: functional somatic syndromes; irritable bowel syndrome; obstructive sleep apnea; polysomnography
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.4103/1687-8426.217636

Abstract Background Sleep disturbances represent a common extraintestinal manifestation of functional gastrointestinal disorders. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) among some Egyptian patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and to further assess the correlation between the prevalence of IBS and the severity of OSA. Patients and methods Patients referred to the Sleep Disorders Clinic with polysomnographically (PSG) confirmed OSA were included. A second group that included 15 patients with OSA-free IBS was enrolled as controls. For all patients, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and the Berlin Questionnaire were used to assess subjective sleep quality and overnight PSG was performed to assess objective sleep quality. Results A total of 256 patients with OSA were included; 225 (87.9%) were men and 31 (12.1%) were women. The mean (SD) age of the patients was 49.84 (11.41) years, with a range of 24–81 years. In terms of the severity of OSA, 40 (15.6%) patients had mild OSA, 33 (12.9%) patients had moderate OSA, and the remaining 183 (71.5%) patients had severe OSA. Among the study participants with OSA, IBS was found in 93 patients (80 men and 13 women); the prevalence of IBS was 36.3%. The severity of OSA among OSA patients with IBS was as follows: 23 had mild OSA, 11 had moderate OSA, and 59 had severe OSA. There were nonsignificant differences between OSA patient subgroups for both Epworth Sleepiness Scale and the Berlin questionnaire (P>0.05); yet, two objective PSG parameters differenced significantly: apnea–hypopnea index (P=0.005) and sleep latency (P=0.01). Neither subjective nor objective sleep disturbances were found among the IBS controls. In the OSA group, IBS correlated significantly and inversely with apnea–hypopnea index (r=−0.171, P=0.006), and OSA grading of severity (r=−0.173, P=0.005). Conclusion IBS is prevalent in OSA patients and is correlated inversely with the severity grading of OSA.