Gender and the systemic hypertension-snoring association: a questionnaire-based case-control study

Since the role of gender in the association between hypertension and snoring is unknown, we studied it while accounting for age and body mass index (BMI) as confounding variables. A questionnaire on snoring was administered to 90 hypertensive (HT) subjects (45 men and 45 women) and to 90 normotensive (NT) subjects matched for gender, age and BMI. As expected, snoring was more commonly reported by men than by women, but no significant difference was found between HT and NT men, irrespective of age. Conversely, heavy snoring was more frequently reported by HT than NT women; habitual snoring was more common among young (age < 50 years) HT than NT women; and heavy snoring was more common among older (age > 50 years) HT than NT women. These data suggest an effect of gender on the hypertension-snoring association: in men, snoring may be accounted for by age and BMI whether or not hypertension is present, whereas in women the natural history of snoring appears different and more severe in HT than in NT. Although the mechanism(s) responsible for the differences between men and women are obscure at present, gender may be an important variable in the systemic hypertension-snoring association.