A recent survey has revealed concerning sleep patterns among Hong Kong residents, with 44% reporting less than four nights of quality sleep each week. The study, conducted between December 2023 and January 2024, involved 36,000 participants from 17 regions, including 1,000 individuals from Hong Kong.
The findings highlight that 7% of adults in the city suffer from sleep apnoea, a condition marked by interrupted breathing during sleep. Alarmingly, 63% of those surveyed were unaware of this condition, and nearly half did not realize that their sleep quality was poor or potentially linked to sleep apnoea. More than 40% expressed dissatisfaction with their sleep quality, raising significant public health concerns.
Dr. Ng Yiu-ping, a specialist in respiratory medicine, emphasized the serious consequences of inadequate sleep, which can lead to impaired cognitive function and an increased risk of heart disease. Symptoms such as loud snoring, feelings of unrefreshing sleep, frequent nighttime urination, or sexual dysfunction may indicate the presence of sleep apnoea. Men with larger tonsils, obesity, hypertension, or a smoking history are particularly at risk.
Treatment options for sleep apnoea typically include the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines to keep airways open during sleep, dental devices to widen the airway, or, in severe cases, surgical intervention.
To combat the increasing prevalence of sleep apnoea in Hong Kong, a new respiratory device has been introduced. This innovative device allows patients to monitor the frequency of breathing pauses through an app, enabling doctors to access this data via a cloud service, which enhances patient care and reduces follow-up costs.
44% 香港居民因壓力上升而經歷睡眠不足
最近一項調查顯示，香港居民的睡眠情況令人擔憂，44%的人每週報告少於四晚的優質睡眠。這項研究於2023年12月至2024年1月進行，涉及來自17個地區的36,000名參與者，其中包括1,000名香港居民。
調查結果突顯出，7%的成年人患有睡眠呼吸暫停症，這是一種在睡眠中呼吸中斷的情況。令人震驚的是，63%的受訪者對此病症毫不知情，幾乎一半的人未意識到自己的睡眠質量差或可能與睡眠呼吸暫停症有關。超過40%的人對目前的睡眠質量表示不滿，這引發了重大的公共健康關注。
呼吸醫學專家吳耀平醫生強調，睡眠不足的嚴重後果可能包括認知功能受損和心臟病風險增加。像是大聲打鼾、感覺未得到充分休息、夜尿頻繁或性功能障礙等症狀可能表明存在睡眠呼吸暫停症。喉嚨大、肥胖、高血壓或有吸煙歷史的男性尤其容易受影響。
治療睡眠呼吸暫停症的選擇通常包括使用持續正壓呼吸器（CPAP）來保持睡眠時的氣道通暢、牙科裝置擴大氣道，或在嚴重情況下進行手術。
為了應對香港睡眠呼吸暫停症的日益普遍，最近推出了一種新的呼吸裝置。這款創新設備允許患者通過應用程序監測呼吸暫停的頻率，醫生可以通過雲端服務訪問這些數據，從而改善病人護理並降低後續成本。
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