OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA SYNDROME (OSAS) IS A COMMON DISORDER RESULTING FROM REPETITIVE CESSATION OF BREATHING DURING SLEEP. OSAS affects

OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA SYNDROME (OSAS) IS A COMMON DISORDER RESULTING FROM REPETITIVE CESSATION OF BREATHING DURING SLEEP. OSAS affects approximately 5% of adults,1 but this figure may underestimate the problem because of the increasing worldwide prevalence of obesity.2 Men with OSAS have been reported to use more healthcare resources than matched controls, and treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) decreases healthcare utilization after diagnosis and treatment intervention.3 We hypothesize that, as occurs in men, healthcare utilization will decrease in women after diagnosis and treatment of OSAS. We thus compared healthcare utilization in the 5 years before and the 2 years after the diagnosis of OSAS in women and the healthcare utilization of controls selected from the general population. METHODS