Prevalence of prediabetes according to sleep apnea status

Aim: The association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and prediabetes using the STOP-Bang questionnaire remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of prediabetes among people based on their sleep apnea status. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 10131 Korean adults without diabetes with information of STOP-Bang scores, drawn from the dataset of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2019–2021. Prediabetes was defined in three subsets: only by fasting blood glucose (FBG) (FBG 100–125 mg/dL, HbA1c <5.7 %), only by HbA1c (FBG <100 mg/dL, HbA1c 5.7–6.4 %) or by both. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess the odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for prediabetes. Results: A total of 3828 subjects reported a STOP-Bang score of ≥ 3, which shows increased risk of OSA. Multivariable-adjusted OR (95 % CI) showed that a STOP-Bang score ≥ 3 was associated with prediabetes meeting both FBG and HbA1c criteria (OR 1.06; 95 % CI 1.01–1.12). This association was statistically significant among women, particularly postmenopausal women (OR 1.20, 95 % CI 1.10–1.30; OR 1.21, 95 % CI 1.11–1.32, respectively). Conclusion: In Korean general population, a significant correlation between higher OSA risk and prediabetes was observed, especially in postmenopausal women.