Prevalence and risk factors for sleep disordered breathing in a Puerto Rican middle-aged population.

Background: The Berlin Questionnaire [an outcome of a primary care physicians' conference held in Berlin, Germany, in 1996 that was created to identify patients at high risk for sleep disordered breathing (SDB)] was administered to a representative sample of middle-age population in Puerto Rico in order to document the prevalence of SDB and its associated risk factors.

Materials And Methods: The island was divided in six regions to maintain heterogeneity and to have a representative sample of the population per region. Puerto Rican subjects between 30-60 years old were recruited in shopping malls, and questionnaires were filled.