Cross sectional study of the prevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) and of the awareness regarding OSAS in a population of the geographical regions of Epirus, Western Greece and Central Greece.

<bold>Background:</bold> Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) is a chronic disorder with high morbidity. Community prevalence is not well known in all geographical regions in Greece. <bold>Aim:</bold> We aimed at assessing community self-reported prevalence of OSAS in the geographical regions of Epirus, Western Greece, and Central Greece and also the degree of awareness of both the disease itself and its diagnosis. <bold>Methods:</bold> We did a telephone survey in 600 residents, 287 males and 313 females (out of 1645 calls, 722 responded and 122 did not opt to participate). We used the Berlin Questionnaire and the ESS followed by questions regarding knowledge about OSAS, ots diagnosis and PSG. <bold>Results:</bold> Mean age and BMI in our sample was 50.08±16.70 years and 23.34±4.29 kg/m² respectively, while 25.16% were at high risk according to BQ and 29% according to ESS. High risk for OSAS as indicated by being at high risk in both BQ and ESS, were 12.83%. Only 33% of the participants were aware of OSAS, 11% knew about the diagnosis and 47.33% had heard about PSG. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> As compared to the self-reported prevalence of OSAS in areas that have been previously published like Thessaly (3.94%) and a significant fraction of insular Greece (6.29%) the current results are significantly higher and require further investigation. Additionally the levels of awareness regarding OSAS are very low and therefore targeted health promotion programs regarding OSAS are required.