Publication

Abstract : Background and objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common type of sleep-disordered breathing encountered in clinical practice and has considerable medical and psychosocial consequences. Snoring is the most common sign of OSA, yet it is most often ignored. Seasonal changes may lead to changes in body weight, pharyngeal flow, and frequency of allergies, which in turn leads to changes in the severity of OSA. The seasonal pattern of worsening of OSA can be demonstrated by the analysis of information-seeking behavior on the internet from a specific region. Google, the most popular search engine, indexes the queries with every search performed and makes this information available to the public through Google trends. Materials and methods: In the current study, we used Google trends data to investigate the seasonal variation in sleep-disordered breathing in eight countries in the Asia-Pacific region (India, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea) from 2015 to 2020. The seasonality of queries for the term “snoring” was analyzed using the cosinor model. Results: Peaks and troughs in trends of search volume index (SVI) or normalized search volume during the specific period for the term “snoring” were evident. There were significant differences in mean SVI values across the seasons. Cosinor models confirmed the seasonality for “snoring” in all countries in the study. The peak season for queries corresponded to the cold climate in the respective countries, with maximum amplitude seen in India. Conclusion: Obstructive sleep apnea exhibits seasonality with increased severity in winter. The results of this study can guide targeted implementation of sleep awareness program in winters to increase the awareness and the management of OSA across the Asian countries