Gender and Polysomnographic Profiles Findings in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome Patients Living in High Altitude.

The patients were more obese, older, and had lower SpO2 values than most of those previously reported. Men had greater severity in most of the parameters measured by polysomnography. Polysomnographic variables were different both in the OSA patient profiles and in the gender comparison. However, the REM sleep apnea hypopnea index did not differ between sexes, indicating the importance of this variable in the evaluation of OSA severity in women. In contrast to previous reports, clinical and demographic characteristics showed few differences in both analyses. This result suggests that the behavior of OSA at high altitudes may have particularities with respect to low altitudes.