Association Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea Risk and Obesity Phenotypes in Korean Adults: Nationwide Population-Based Study

Presenter: Kim, S. Y

This cross-sectional study assessed the link between obesity phenotypes categorized by metabolic health status and the risk of sleep apnea in 10,930 Korean adults from KNHANES (2019–2021) cohort.

The obesity phenotypes were classified using body mass index and metabolic syndrome markers as metabolically healthy normal weight (MHNW), metabolically abnormal normal weight (MANW), metabolically healthy obese (MHO), and metabolically abnormal obese (MAO). Sleep apnea risk was assessed using STOP‑Bang scores. Compared to MHNW, MAO (OR 1.752, 95% CI 1.207–2.543), and MANW (OR 1.651, 95% CI 1.055–2.584) were associated with a significantly higher risk of sleep apnea. MHO was not associated with a significant increase of risk (OR 1.170, 95% CI 0.759–1.805). MAO carried greater risk than MHO (OR 1.290, 95% CI 0.999–1.667). These findings highlight the need to consider both body composition and metabolic health for the management of sleep apnea.

33^rd European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026), 12^th -15^th May 2026, Istanbul, Turkey.