Gender differences in XXXX : the role of neck circumference.

@entity1 @entity28 @entity387 @entity25 @entity386
STUDY OBJECTIVES: To determine whether differences in @entity387 severity between @entity1 and @entity1 referred to a sleep clinic are related to the differences in neck circumference (NC). STUDY DESIGN: Case series. SETTING: University hospital @entity25 clinic. @entity1 : A total of 3,942 @entity1 (2,753 @entity1 and 1,189 @entity1 ) referred to the sleep clinic. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: All @entity1 underwent nocturnal polysomnography. NC was used as a surrogate measure of upper airway @entity28 . We found that @entity387 , defined an the @entity386 / @entity387 index (AHI) > 10/h, was significantly more frequent (60% vs 32%, chi(2) < 0.0001) and severe (mean +/- SE, 25 +/- 26/h vs 12 +/- 19/h, p < 0.0001) in @entity1 than in @entity1 . @entity1 had significantly larger NC than @entity1 , but the difference became much less pronounced when we normalized NC to body height (0.24 +/- 0.02 vs 0.23 +/- 0.03, p < 0.0001). @entity1 had significantly higher AHI than @entity1 even after controlling for age, body mass index (BMI), and neck/height ratio (NHR); analysis of covariance showed that mean AHI was 24.4 +/- 0.4 in @entity1 vs 14.8 +/- 0.7 in @entity1 (p < 0.0001). This difference persisted even when we matched @entity1 and @entity1 for NHR and BMI. Finally, multiple regression analysis revealed the following: (1) NHR was the most significant predictor of AHI, accounting for 19% of the variability; and (2) the slope of AHI vs NHR was significantly higher in @entity1 than in @entity1 . CONCLUSIONS: We conclude the following: (1) the frequency and severity of @entity387 in the sleep clinic population is greater in @entity1 than @entity1 , and (2) factors other than NC, age, and BMI must contribute to these gender differences.
