Abstract:Objective To explore the effect of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) on blood pressure in young patients.MethodsThere were 1469 young patients with suspected OSAHS underwent polysomnography (PSG) in our hospital from Jan 1999 to June 2011. The age of the patients ranged from 18 to 45 years. All the patients were divided into 11 groups according to the sleep apnea hypopnea index (AHI). Group 1∶AHI<5, group 2∶5≤AHI<15, group 3∶15≤AHI<30, group 4∶30≤AHI<40, group 5∶40≤AHI<50, group 6∶50≤AHI<60, group 7∶60≤AHI<70, group 8∶70≤AHI<80, group 9∶80≤AHI<90, group 10∶90≤AHI<100, and group 11∶AHI≥100. Incidences of hypertension across groups were compared with crosstabs method. The correlations between diastolic/systolic blood pressure and patients’ age, AHI, body mass index (BMI), the lowest oxygen saturation (LSaO2) were analyzed.Results① Of all the 1469 patients, OSAHS was confirmed by PSG in 1188. Of the 1188 OSAHS patients, hypertension was detected in 557 (46.9%), including isolated diastolic hypertension in 301 cases (54.8%, 301/557) and systolicdiastolic hypertension in 233 (42.2%, 233/557). ② The age, AHI, BMI, LSaO2 and systolic blood pressure were positively correlated with diastolic blood pressure (r=0.156, 0.289, 0.299, 0.333; P<0.01, respectively), and there were negative correlations between LSaO2, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (r=-0.282, -0.307; P<0.01, respectively). They were all independent risk factors for hypertension. ③No statistically significant differences of hypertension incidence were found between group 2 and group 3, group 4 and group 5, groups 6 to 10 (χ2=1.361, 0.668, 1.186; P>0.05, respectively). But there were four cutoff points at the AHI of 5, 30, 50 and 100.ConclusionsOSAHS may affect blood pressure in young patients, especially their diastolic blood pressure. The age, AHI, BMI and LSaO2 may be independent risk factors in hypertension of young OSAHS patients.