Harneet Walia, MD, the medical director of sleep at Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute, a part of Baptist Health South Florida.

Harneet Walia, MD

Hispanic Ethnicity Tied to Severe Sleep Disordered Breathing, with Harneet Walia, MD

A study using 2020 – 2022 Baptist Health’s sleep study data found that Hispanic ethnicity was significantly associated with moderate to severe 

Harneet Walia, MD, the medical director of sleep at Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute, a part of Baptist Health South Florida, presented the findings of this retrospective study at 

SLEEP 2025, the 39th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies,

 in Seattle. HCPLive sat down with Walia at the meeting to discuss risk factors for SDB in Hispanic and non-Hispanic populations.

“We know that Hispanics have been understudied and have been underrecognized,” Walia said. “Therefore, we wanted to understand what risk factors contribute to Sleep Disorder Breathing in [the] Hispanic and non-Hispanic [population].”

To examine risk factors for SDB, Walia and colleagues analyzed Baptist Health’s sleep study database (2020 – 2022). Patients were diagnosed with SDB via polysomnogram, split-night polysomnogram, or home sleep apnea testing. Using an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), SDB was classified as either negative/mild (AHI < 15) or moderate to severe (AHI ≥ 15). The study also compared AHI category, age, sex, body mass index (BMI), ethnicity, average and minimum blood oxygen saturation (Sp02), and secondary diagnoses between Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients.

The sample included 9111 patients, of whom 63.8% were Hispanic and 36.2% were non-Hispanic. About half of the Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients were male (53% and 57.4%, respectively; 

Obesity was observed slightly more in Hispanic (59.4%) vs non-Hispanic (57.4%) patients (

 < .001). Hispanic patients also had slightly greater cases of moderate to severe SDB (47.8%) compared with non-Hispanic patients (45.6%) (

 = .04). In a similar vein, median AHI (14.2 vs 13.5%; 

 = .01) and average Sp02 (94.1% vs 93.9%; 

 = .03) was greater among Hispanic patients vs non-Hispanic patients, respectively.

The multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that Hispanic ethnicity (odds ratio [OR], 1.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09 – 1.31), male sex (OR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.89 – 2.28), obesity (OR, 3.81; 95% CI, 3.24 – 4.49), hypertension (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.10 – 1.36), and respiratory illnesses (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.15 – 1.42) were associated with moderate or severe SDB.

Male sex (OR, 2.00), obesity (OR, 4.70), hypertension (OR, 1.22), and respiratory illnesses (OR,1.35) were the key risk factors for moderate or severe SDB among Hispanic patients. As for non-Hispanic patients, key risk factors for moderate or severe SDB included male sex (OR, 2.39), obesity (OR, 2.94), and diabetes (OR, 1.29).

“We know that obstructive sleep apnea is under-recognized and under-treated in [the] Hispanic population,” Walia said. “The study helped us identify some of the risk factors which may help clinicians identify… patients for screening, early intervention, and treatment more clearly than before.”

Azhar M, Cardenas W, Saxena A, et al. Risk Factors for Sleep Disordered Breathing Among Hispanics and Non-Hispanics – A Retrospective Study. Presented at SLEEP 2025, the 39th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, from June 8 – 11th in Seattle.

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At SLEEP 2025, Walia discussed findings showing Hispanic individuals may experience more severe cases of sleep disordered breathing compared to the non-Hispanic group.

Harneet Walia, MD

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