Sleep apnea in morbidly obese patients: prevalence and clinical predictivity.

Background: Little is known about the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) in morbidly obese patients and whether such patients show peculiar clinical findings that may make it easier to suspect and diagnose OSAHS.

Objectives: To investigate prevalence of OSAHS in patients with morbid obesity and find a simple structured model for predicting the results of polysomnography.

Methods: The study enrolled a group of 101 consecutive inpatients (33 males, age range 20-80 years) with a body mass index > or =40, whose symptoms of OSAHS were not known, and a validation group of 45 patients.