Distance to Specialist Medical Care and Diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Rural Saskatchewan
Table 5
Results of multivariable log-binomial regression modeling probability of a sleep apnea diagnosis among adults who likely required this specialist medical care.
Variable
Unadjusted model RR (95% CI)
Adjusted modela RR (95% CI)
value
Exposure
Travel distance to specialist medical care (km)
<100
1.00 (referent)
1.00 (referent)
0.32
100–189
1.17 (0.88, 1.57)
1.27 (0.95, 1.70)
190–249
1.11 (0.83, 1.48)
1.21 (0.90, 1.62)
≥250
1.06 (0.79, 1.42)
1.09 (0.82, 1.46)
Potential confoundersb
Age (years)
18–45
1.00 (referent)
1.00 (referent)
<0.001
46–55
1.66 (1.22, 2.25)
1.71 (1.27, 2.32)
56–65
1.63 (1.19, 2.22)
1.68 (1.23, 2.30)
>65
1.71 (1.24, 2.36)
1.99 (1.41, 2.81)
Sex
Females
1.00 (referent)
1.00 (referent)
<0.001
Males
1.53 (1.24, 1.88)
1.58 (1.27, 1.96)
Body mass index (kg/m2)
Normal (<25)
1.00 (referent)
1.00 (referent)
<0.001
Overweight (25–29.9)
1.16 (0.84, 1.60)
1.09 (0.79, 1.50)
Obese (≥30)
2.28 (1.68, 3.08)
2.24 (1.65, 3.05)
Money left over at the end of the month
Some
1.00 (referent)
1.00 (referent)
0.02
Just enough
0.97 (0.75, 1.26)
1.01 (0.78, 1.30)
Not enough
1.41 (1.13, 1.75)
1.39 (1.12, 1.73)
Education level
Postsecondary
1.00 (referent)
1.00 (referent)
0.05
Secondary or less
0.97 (0.80, 1.18)
0.82 (0.68, 1.00)
Heavy alcohol consumption, more than 5 drinks on one occasion
Never
1.00 (referent)
1.00 (referent)
0.12
1/month or less
0.90 (0.73, 1.012)
0.89 (0.72, 1.11)
1/week or less
0.94 (0.70, 1.28)
0.93 (0.67, 1.28)
More than 1/week
1.79 (1.19, 2.67)
1.65 (1.05, 2.58)
Smoking status
Never
1.00 (referent)
1.00 (referent)
0.60
Past
1.05 (0.86, 1.28)
0.91 (0.74, 1.11)
Current
0.86 (0.63, 1.17)
0.89 (0.65, 1.22)
aModel adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, money left over at the end of the month, education level, heavy alcohol consumption, and smoking status. Standard errors corresponding to confidence intervals were inflated to account for clustering of adults within households. bModels adjusted for the other 6 potential confounders and travel distance to specialist medical care. Standard errors corresponding to confidence intervals were inflated to account for clustering of adults within households.
