Sleep assessment in menopausal women: risk for obstructive sleep apnea and its cardiometabolic relationship.
Name: BÁRBARA CAETANO FERREIRA
Publication date: 30/03/2026
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ADRIANA MADEIRA ALVARES DA SILVA | Examinador Interno |
| MARA REJANE BARROSO BARCELOS | Coorientador |
| SONIA ALVES GOUVEA | Presidente |
| VINÍCIUS MENGAL | Examinador Externo |
Summary: Menopause is a period of cardiovascular changes such as hypertension and worsening of sleep-related respiratory parameters that may be associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and cardiometabolic changes. To this end, a sample of 120 participants was investigated, equally distributed between groups with and without menopause (n = 60 in each group), who underwent anthropometric and hemodynamic characterization, assessment using sleep questionnaires, and type IV
polysomnography for OSA risk. The assessments were approved by the CEP/UFES (no. 6.100.927 (05/05/2023), CAAE 68609822.0.0000.5060). Mean arterial pressure (MAP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), body mass index (BMI), oxygen desaturation
index (ODI), hypoxic load, and STOP-Bang score were evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test and the Wilcoxon test for independent samples, considering p < 0.05 as significant, in addition to Spearman's
correlation test with of 5%. Comparison between groups revealed that menopausal women presented significantly higher values for BMI, SBP, MAP, IDO, and STOP- Bang score, with moderate to high effect sizes for age, SBP, IDO, and STOP-Bang, indicating consistent differences in anthropometric, hemodynamic, and respiratory sleep parameters. IDO was higher in the menopausal group (mean 8.40 events/h, median 4.70) compared to the non-menopausal group (mean 1.91 events/h, median 1.30), suggesting poorer respiratory stability and a higher frequency of nocturnal desaturation events among menopausal women. Correlation analyses showed a moderate positive association between BMI and IDO. In the menopausal group, a positive correlation was also identified between age and IDO, and a weak, but significant, correlation between MAP and IDO, suggesting that worsening nocturnal desaturation is associated with a higher hemodynamic load only in this group. Additionally, the STOP-Bang score showed a positive correlation with IDO in both groups, with moderate magnitude in menopausal women, indicating good clinical screening capacity of the instrument for OSA risk in this population profile. Taken together, these findings indicate that menopause is related to a more unfavorable pattern of cardiometabolic and respiratory sleep parameters. The association between subjective worsening of sleep, higher clinical risk for OSA, higher IDO, and the relationship with BMI and MAP suggests that sleep-related breathing disorders should be considered an important part of cardiovascular and metabolic health in menopausal women. Thus, the study demonstrates that integrated sleep screening, including clinical and subjective instruments integrated with home tests for OSA, can constitute useful strategies for prevention and monitoring of cardiometabolic risk in this group.
