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Abstract
The proportion of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) in the general adult population that
goes undiagnosed was estimated from a sample of 4,925 employed adults. Questionnaire
data on doctor-diagnosed sleep apnea were followed up to ascertain the prevalence
of diagnosed sleep apnea. In-laboratory polysomnography on a subset of 1,090 participants
was used to estimate screen-detected sleep apnea. In this population, without obvious
barriers to health care for sleep disorders, we estimate that 93% of women and 82%
of men with moderate to severe SAS have not been clinically diagnosed. These findings
provide a baseline for assessing health care resource needs for sleep apnea.