Temporal association between leg movements and respiratory events in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: description and differences between the AASM and WASM scoring criteria

• Published in: Sleep & breathing Vol. 27; no. 6; pp. 2295 - 2304
• Main Authors: Huang, Zhengfei, Lobbezoo, Frank, de Vries, Nico, Aarab, Ghizlane, Hilgevoord, Antonius A. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-12-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Apnea; Dentistry; Internal Medicine; Leg; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neurology; Otorhinolaryngology; Pediatrics; Pneumology/Respiratory System; Sleep apnea; Sleep Breathing Physiology and Disorders • Original; Sleep Breathing Physiology and Disorders • Original Article; Sleep disorders; Temporal association; Respiratory event; Leg movement; Obstructive sleep apnea; Scoring criteria
• ISSN: 1520-9512; 1522-1709
• DOI: 10.1007/s11325-023-02844-x

Purpose
To describe the temporal association between leg movements (LMs) and respiratory events in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and to quantify the difference in scoring respiratory-related leg movement (RRLM) between the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) criterion and the criterion recommended by the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM).
Methods
Patients with OSA who presented with > 10 LMs of any type per hour of sleep were included in this study. For each participant, RRLMs were scored using both the AASM criterion and the recommended WASM criterion. The occurrence of LMs in relation to respiratory events and the difference in scoring RRLM between the AASM criterion and the criterion recommended by the WASM were quantified.
Results
In 32 patients enrolled, mean age was 48.1 ± 11.0 years and 78% were men. LMs were significantly more frequent after respiratory events, followed by before respiratory events, and were rare during respiratory events (
P
 < 0.01). Compared with the AASM criterion, more LMs were classified as RRLMs based on the recommended WASM criterion (
P
 = 0.01).
Conclusion
LMs are more frequent after respiratory events than before and during respiratory events, and more LMs are scored as RRLMs based on the recommended WASM criterion than based on the AASM criterion.