sleep-disordered breathing Archives

Neck-to-Height Ratio Screens Pediatric Sleep Apnea Better Than BMI

by GLOOM

Editorial medical card showing pediatric sleep apnea screening with neck measurement, PSG waveforms, and airway anatomy.

A 2026 polysomnography study involving 685 children found that neck-to-height ratio identified moderate/severe pediatric obstructive sleep apnea better than BMI Z-score, waist-to-height ratio, or hip-to-height ratio. The signal was useful but not diagnostic: neck-to-height ratio reached AUC 0.781 overall, which is strong enough for triage but not strong enough to replace a sleep study.1 Research …

Smoking Linked to 1.75x Higher Sleep Apnea Severity in Pomerania Study

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for smoking history and obstructive sleep apnea severity in a population polysomnography study.

A 2026 population-based polysomnography study involving 1,206 adults found current smokers had 1.75x higher odds of worse obstructive sleep apnea severity than non-smokers or occasional smokers after adjustment for age and body mass index. Former smokers showed almost the same overall signal — 1.76x higher odds than never smokers — but that part of the …