Clinical and prognostic characteristics of obstructive sleep apnea among smokers

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Published Jan 22, 2026
https://doi.org/10.62438/tunismed.v103i11.6065
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Vol. 103 No. 11 (2025): Tunis Med Nov 2025

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Emna Ben Jemia
Department of Pneumology, Charles Nicolles Hospital ,Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia.
Sara Trimech
Department of Pneumology, Charles Nicolles Hospital ,Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia.
Hend Ouertani
Department of Pneumology, Charles Nicolles Hospital ,Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia.
Jihen Ben Amar
Department of Pneumology, Charles Nicolles Hospital ,Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia.
Haifa Zaibi
Department of Pneumology, Charles Nicolles Hospital ,Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia.

Abstract

 


Introduction:Smoking is a major public challenge, with profound implications for individual and societal health, intertwining with many medical issues such as the on growing of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) incidence with studies highlighting a potential association between these two entities, suggesting that smoking may contribute to the pathophysiology of OSA and the worsening of the severity degree of OSA symptoms.


Aim:This study seeks to determine the clinical and prognostic characteristics of OSA among smokers and secondly to look for factors predictive of OSA severity.


Methods: A cross-sectional study carried out in the Pneumology Department at the Charles Nicolle University Hospital in Tunis from January 2023 to June 2024, enrolling 172 patients with a confirmed OSA by a respiratory polygraphy realized in hospital. We divided patients into two groups according to smoking status. G1: smoking patients and G2: non-smoking patients. Statistical analyses were performed to compare the results of the two groups.


Results: A total of 172 patients were included. Forty-seven patients (27.3%) were smokers (G1) with a sex ratio at 3 and a mean age at 59±13 years. Univariate study showed that smoking patients were predominantly men (p<0.001). There was no significant relation between smoking status and cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities except for COPD that was prevalent among G1(p=0.001) and insomnia (p=0.04). Screening scores such NoSAS and StopBang were more performant in G1 (p=0.03 and p= 0.01 respectively). Polygraphyfinding showed that smoking patients had .....(abstract truncated at 250 words)


 


 

Keywords:

Obstructive sleep apnea, Smoking, Prognosis, Severity

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