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Characteristics of pharyngeal paraesthesia symptoms in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate pharyngeal paraesthesia symptoms in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).

Material and methods

Patients with snoring and suspected OSA as well as age-matched controls were recruited. All participants underwent nocturnal polysomnography (PSG) and pharyngeal paraesthesia assessment using the Glasgow-Edinburgh throat scale (GETS). The incidence and severity of pharyngeal paraesthesia symptoms were compared between the groups.

Results

A total of 280 patients who snored or were suspected of having OSA and 35 healthy, age-matched controls were recruited. The total pharyngeal paraesthesia symptom score was significantly higher in the OSA group than in the healthy group (12 [5, 23] vs. 3 [0, 9]; p < 0.001). The most frequent pharyngeal paraesthesia symptoms in the snore patients were Q7 (catarrh down the throat) and Q3 (discomfort/irritation in the throat), which are related to the irritability of the throat. The incidence of Q7 (OSA, 58% vs. controls, 14%; χ2 = 23.66; p < 0.001), Q3 (OSA, 46% vs. controls, 3%; χ2 = 23.07; p < 0.001), Q1 (feeling of something stuck in the throat; OSA, 33% vs. controls, 6%; χ2 = 11.00; p = 0.001), Q6 (swelling in the throat; OSA, 31% vs. controls, 0%; χ2 = 14.53; p < 0.001), Q9 (want to swallow all the time; OSA, 20% vs. controls, 6%; χ2 = 6.28; p = 0.012), Q5 (throat closing off; OSA, 24% vs. controls, 6%; χ2 = 6.16; p = 0.013), and Q2 (pain in the throat; OSA, 23% vs. controls, 6%; χ2 = 5.32; p = 0.021) was significantly higher in the OSA group than in the controls

Conclusions

Patients with obstructive sleep apnoea have higher pharyngeal paraesthesia symptoms scores and tend to have irritated throats compared to healthy controls.

Clinical trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03506178.

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Funding

This was not an industry-supported study. An Yunsong is supported by Medical Science and Technology Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (A2020018) and Science and Technology Special Fund of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital (2020bq01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, No.106 Zhongshanerlu Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, China

    Yunsong An, Xiaomei Su, Chuan Zhou, Jiayu Huang, Shaohua Chen, Tao Liu & Zhongming Lu

  2. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Gansu Provincial Hospital, Lanzhou, China

    Fei Gao

  3. Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing TongRen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    Fei Gao

  4. Key Laboratory of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Ministry of Education, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    Fei Gao

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  1. Yunsong An
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  3. Xiaomei Su
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  4. Chuan Zhou
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  7. Tao Liu
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yunsong An or Zhongming Lu.

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Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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An, Y., Gao, F., Su, X. et al. Characteristics of pharyngeal paraesthesia symptoms in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea. Sleep Breath 25, 2163–2169 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-021-02325-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-021-02325-z

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