الفهرس 
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Abstract
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) syndrome is a respiratory sleep disorder characterized by partial or complete recurrent episodes of UA collapse that occurs during the night. OSA manifests with a reduction (hypopnea) or complete cessation (apnea) of airflow in the UA in the presence of breathing effort. It has a reported prevalence of 3–9% in the general population.
OSA causes intermittent hypoxemia, hypercapnia, microarousals, and fragmented sleep. These consequences of OSA have adverse effects on the cardiovascular system, even when the OSA is only mild. OSA is thought to be independently associated with hypertension, stroke, and cardiovascular mortality.
The prevalence of OSA increased with increasing age. Aging is associated with a lengthening of the UA, changes in the structure and function of the UA could have the effect of increasing pharyngeal collapsibility, and the subsequent number of apneas or hypopneas in older people.
Work in our study aims to determine the effect of age on sleep apnea patients and the prevalence of sleep apnea within different age groups.
our study includes 95 patients that was conducted at a sleep laboratory in the ENT department of Sohag university hospital and clinical neurophysiology unit, Cairo University. The study population was stratified into four categories, by their ages.
All participants were subjected to Personal history, Detailed sleep history, Medical history, General examination including BMI, waist and NC, ENT examination including nasal examination, oral cavity, and oropharynx, neck examination, Epworth sleepiness score, An overnight sleep study in-laboratory polysomnography.
OSA was more prevalent in males than females, HTN was the most significant associated comorbidity.
Results in this study revealed a strong correlation between age and BMI.
There was a statistically significant linear correlation was observed between age and the circumference of the waist and neck and also between age and collapse of the tonsils.
There was no correlation between ESS and age and between age and polysomnographic parameters.
Finally, obesity could play an important role in elderly patients with OSAS and BMI could be a significant variable in determining the severity of OSAS in elderly patients.
Conclusion
Prevalence estimates of OSA increased continuously with age. This age-related increase in prevalence may be attributable to parapharyngeal fat deposition, lengthening of the soft palate, and changes in other anatomic parapharyngeal structures
Obesity could play an important role in elderly patients with OSAS and BMI could be a significant variable in determining the severity of OSAS in elderly patients.
Our data indicated that oropharyngeal soft tissue structures independent of obesity and neck size are important in the assessment of a patient presenting with signs or symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea
Upper airway examination is necessary to identify potential causes in OSA patients and to select suitable surgical procedures after determining the level of obstruction.
Aging is also associated with changes in OSA-related parameters (an increase of AHI, reduction of night-time. SpO2, reduction of daytime sleepiness, etc.) and type of sleep.
RECOMMENDATION
Obesity plays an important role in elderly patients with OSAS so measurement of obesity indices including BMI, neck and abdomen circumference is a must during OSAS patient evaluation.
Upper airway examination is necessary to identify potential causes in OSA patients and to select suitable surgical procedures after determining the level of obstruction.