Snoring in a Hispanic-American population. Risk factors and association with hypertension and other morbidity

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Abstract
Snoring was investigated in a survey of respiratory disease in Hispanic-Americans of a New Mexico (USA) community. A population-based sample of 1222 adults was studied with questionnaires and mesurements of height, weight, and blood pressure. The age-adjusted prevalence of regular loud snoring was 27.8% in men and 15.3% in women. Snoring prevalance increased with age and obesity in both men and women. Cigarette smoking was also associated with snoring, but chronic obstructive lung disease and alcohol consumption were not. Snorers more frequently had hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and excessive day-time sleepiness. In contrast to other studies, after adjustment for confounding factors, there was no effect of snoring on hypertension (odds ratio, 1.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.7 to 1.5), but an effect on myocardial infarction was still demonstrable (odds ratio, 1.8; 95% confidence interval, 0.9 to 3.6). The association of snoring with sleepiness suggests that respiratory disturbance of sleep related to upper airway obstruction, such as sleep apnea, occurs more frequently in snorers in this population.