Rethinking the distribution of sleep services: discrepancy of obstructive sleep apnoea in rural compared with metropolitan men in Australia - a large national survey
Introduction: Geographical location is increasingly recognised as a contributor to health inequity, with barriers including travel distances and a shortage of healthcare services. Individuals living in rural areas are known to have increased illness and comorbidities. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OS...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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James Cook University
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Rural and Remote Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.rrh.org.au/journal/article/7704/ |
| _version_ | 1827819984183623680 |
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| author | Lauren Booker Brad Hodge Timothy Skinner |
| author_facet | Lauren Booker Brad Hodge Timothy Skinner |
| author_sort | Lauren Booker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Introduction: Geographical location is increasingly recognised as a contributor to health inequity, with barriers including travel distances and a shortage of healthcare services. Individuals living in rural areas are known to have increased illness and comorbidities. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is one such illness. OSA is a condition where a person repeatedly pauses breathing while asleep due to their airways becoming wholly or partially blocked, and it is associated with various chronic diseases. Exploration into the effects of these barriers on OSA is limited. This study explores the proportion of diagnosed and undiagnosed OSA in men living in rural compared to metropolitan areas.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of the Australian Ten to Men dataset. The present study looked at men aged over 18 years diagnosed with OSA in their lifetime from wave 2 (n=10 513) and wave 3 (n=7262) of the dataset. Wave 2 data were collected between November 2015 and May 2016, and wave 3 between July 2020 and February 2021.
Results: In wave 2, a higher proportion of rural men were diagnosed with OSA than metropolitan men (OR, 1.47, 95%CI 1.22-1.78, p<0.001), but not regional men. In addition, a significantly higher proportion of men in rural areas were at risk for OSA than metropolitan men (37.7% v 32.6%, p<0.0001). However, men living rurally were older, had higher BMI and lower socioeconomic status. Location was no longer a significant predictor of OSA after controlling for age, BMI and socioeconomic status. In wave 3, rate of diagnosis of OSA during the lifetime was no longer significantly associated with location (p=0.057) or being diagnosed with OSA in the previous 12 months (p=0.062).
Conclusion: This study highlights the need to ensure adequate services in rural areas, given the higher proportion of men diagnosed with, or at risk of, OSA in rural areas. OSA is also associated with an increase risk of comorbidities such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes, which are diseases also seen more prevalently in rural men. Rethinking the distribution of healthcare services will go some way to addressing this problem.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:21:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-be900b5664d941d78626cbcbfb3a3289 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1445-6354 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:21:48Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | James Cook University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Rural and Remote Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-be900b5664d941d78626cbcbfb3a32892023-09-13T05:03:18ZengJames Cook UniversityRural and Remote Health1445-63542023-09-012310.22605/RRH7704Rethinking the distribution of sleep services: discrepancy of obstructive sleep apnoea in rural compared with metropolitan men in Australia - a large national surveyLauren Booker0Brad Hodge1Timothy Skinner2School of Psychology & Public Health, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Vic., Australia; and Institute for Breathing and Sleep, Austin Health, Melbourne, Vic., AustraliaRural Department of Community Health, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Vic., AustraliaSchool of Psychology & Public Health, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Vic., Australia; and Department of Psychology, Centre for Health and Society, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark Introduction: Geographical location is increasingly recognised as a contributor to health inequity, with barriers including travel distances and a shortage of healthcare services. Individuals living in rural areas are known to have increased illness and comorbidities. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is one such illness. OSA is a condition where a person repeatedly pauses breathing while asleep due to their airways becoming wholly or partially blocked, and it is associated with various chronic diseases. Exploration into the effects of these barriers on OSA is limited. This study explores the proportion of diagnosed and undiagnosed OSA in men living in rural compared to metropolitan areas. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of the Australian Ten to Men dataset. The present study looked at men aged over 18 years diagnosed with OSA in their lifetime from wave 2 (n=10 513) and wave 3 (n=7262) of the dataset. Wave 2 data were collected between November 2015 and May 2016, and wave 3 between July 2020 and February 2021. Results: In wave 2, a higher proportion of rural men were diagnosed with OSA than metropolitan men (OR, 1.47, 95%CI 1.22-1.78, p<0.001), but not regional men. In addition, a significantly higher proportion of men in rural areas were at risk for OSA than metropolitan men (37.7% v 32.6%, p<0.0001). However, men living rurally were older, had higher BMI and lower socioeconomic status. Location was no longer a significant predictor of OSA after controlling for age, BMI and socioeconomic status. In wave 3, rate of diagnosis of OSA during the lifetime was no longer significantly associated with location (p=0.057) or being diagnosed with OSA in the previous 12 months (p=0.062). Conclusion: This study highlights the need to ensure adequate services in rural areas, given the higher proportion of men diagnosed with, or at risk of, OSA in rural areas. OSA is also associated with an increase risk of comorbidities such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes, which are diseases also seen more prevalently in rural men. Rethinking the distribution of healthcare services will go some way to addressing this problem. https://www.rrh.org.au/journal/article/7704/Australiaobstructive sleep apnoeaOSApublic healthsleep. |
| spellingShingle | Lauren Booker Brad Hodge Timothy Skinner Rethinking the distribution of sleep services: discrepancy of obstructive sleep apnoea in rural compared with metropolitan men in Australia - a large national survey Rural and Remote Health Australia obstructive sleep apnoea OSA public health sleep. |
| title | Rethinking the distribution of sleep services: discrepancy of obstructive sleep apnoea in rural compared with metropolitan men in Australia - a large national survey |
| title_full | Rethinking the distribution of sleep services: discrepancy of obstructive sleep apnoea in rural compared with metropolitan men in Australia - a large national survey |
| title_fullStr | Rethinking the distribution of sleep services: discrepancy of obstructive sleep apnoea in rural compared with metropolitan men in Australia - a large national survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rethinking the distribution of sleep services: discrepancy of obstructive sleep apnoea in rural compared with metropolitan men in Australia - a large national survey |
| title_short | Rethinking the distribution of sleep services: discrepancy of obstructive sleep apnoea in rural compared with metropolitan men in Australia - a large national survey |
| title_sort | rethinking the distribution of sleep services discrepancy of obstructive sleep apnoea in rural compared with metropolitan men in australia a large national survey |
| topic | Australia obstructive sleep apnoea OSA public health sleep. |
| url | https://www.rrh.org.au/journal/article/7704/ |
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