WEDNESDAY, April 12 (HealthDay News) -- Habitual snoring in women is most prevalent among those aged 50 to 59 and in women with a higher body mass index (BMI), according to research published in the April issue of Chest.
Malin Svensson, M.D., of Uppsala University in Sweden, and colleagues surveyed 6,817 women aged 20 or older about snoring and related risk factors. The researchers found that 7.6 percent of the women reported habitual snoring. Among those between the ages of 50 to 59, however, the prevalence of habitual snoring was 14 percent. Snoring was also strongly dependent on BMI, with snoring more often reported in women with higher BMIs.
Alcohol abuse was significantly linked to increased snoring only in women who had a BMI under 20 kg/m2. Lack of exercise was associated with snoring in women with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or more.
"The prevalence of self-reported habitual snoring in women was strongly dependent on age and BMI," the authors write. "The importance of other risk factors differed depending on BMI, with alcohol dependence being associated with self-reported snoring in lean women, whereas physical inactivity was a risk factor for self-reported snoring in women with a high BMI."
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