Relationship between the Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Hand Grip Strength in Older Koreans: The Eighth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a critical health issue associated with reduced quality of life, cardiovascular disease, respiratory complications, and mortality.Recent studies have proposed its relationship with sarcopenia and frailty.This study aimed to assess the relationship between OSA risk and absolute or relative hand grip strength (AHGS and RHGS, respectively), an indicator of sarcopenia.Methods: Data were obtained from the Eighth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2019 for individuals aged 65 years.The STOP-Bang questionnaire was administered to assess OSA risk and classify participants into three risk groups.RHGS was defined as AHGS divided by body mass index.Group comparisons of AHGS and RHGS were conducted using analysis of variance. Results:In males, AHGS and RHGS did not differ significantly across OSA risk groups.In contrast, RHGS in females showed a significant inverse trend with OSA risk.The mean RHGS in females was 0.88 (95% confidence intervals [CI], 0.85-0.90) in the low-risk group and 0.79 (95% CI, 0.74-0.84) in the high-risk group. Conclusion:This study identified an inverse relationship between OSA risk and RHGS in female, suggesting that OSA may be associated with HGS, a key element of sarcopenia, particularly in older females.