Environmental and sociodemographic factors associated with cognitive functions in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

Abstract

The importance of sociodemographic factors in the evaluation of sleep apnea has been presented recently in a pediatric population. Objective:to evaluate the impact of those factors on cognition of adult patients with OSA.

Methods: A total of 39 patients were recruited. Environmental factors (dwelling and light/dark cycle) and sociodemographic factors were correlated with polysomnography (PSG), brain imaging (MRI) and psychological tests. Results:77% of the patients were highlanders (HL: dwelling above 2000 m asl) and presented a higher frequency of cerebrovascular changes (43%) in contrast with lowlanders (22%). Data as mean±SEM. Differences in Paced Auditory Serial Addition (PASAT) 3 min (HL: 9±1, LL:4±2) were significant (p<0,05). Parameters with statistical significance by sex include working memory (Women:5±0,3; Men:7±0,3; p<0,01) and Frontal Screening Test (Women:20±1,4; Men:24±0,8; p<0,05). Age had negative correlation with Digit Symbol subtest (r=-0,49, p<0,001), Long Term Memory (r=-0,43, p<0,001) and Stroop Color and Word Test (r=-0,31, p<0,05). On the other hand, education had positive correlations with scores for Montreal Cognitive Assessment (r=0,56, p<0,001), working memory (r=0,33, p<0,05), PASAT3 (r=0,36, p<0,05), Long Term Memory storage (r=0,51, p<0,001) and retrieval (r=-0,49, p<0,001). These preliminary findings suggest that Sociodemographic factors play an important role on cognition of OSA patients.