오정은

순천향대학교 천안병원 가정의학과

Background: There has been little research done on the factors associated with snoring among adults in Korea.
Methods: Subjects for this cross-sectional study were 1940 adults aged 20 to 80 years who had visited the
health promotion center at one university hospital in Chungcheongnam-do for general health check-ups.
Standard interviews, anthropometrics, and biochemical studies were conducted. Habitual snoring was defined
as snoring more than 4 days per week. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the associations
between habitual snoring and age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference,
hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia.
Results: The prevalence of habitual snoring was 13.9%. The proportion of problem drinkers, current smokers, BMI
equal to or greater than 25 kg/m², abdominal obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia,
hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL-cholesterolemia increased significantly with increasing frequency in snoring
(P<0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that habitual snoring was independently associated
with the 50-59 years age group, male, current smokers, abdominal obesity, hypertension and low HDL-cholesterolemia
(P<0.05).
Conclusions: These findings show that habitual snorers are at increased risk for individual risk factors associated
with cardiovascular diseases. Prospective studies are needed to further examine the causal relationship
between habitual snoring and cardiovascular diseases.

Korean J Health Promot 2011;11(1):18-24
Keywords: Habitual snoring, Cardiovascular disease, Factors