TITLE:
The Association between TyG-WHtR Index and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Risk in American Adults: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study
AUTHORS:
Faguang Luo, Rong Xie
KEYWORDS:
TyG-WHtR, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Cross-Sectional Study, NHANES, Metabolic Risk
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.14 No.8,
August
24,
2026
ABSTRACT: Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder in the population, which is closely related to cardiovascular diseases and metabolic diseases. Traditional obesity indicators such as body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) have obvious limitations in assessing OSA risk, mainly because they cannot accurately reflect the actual distribution of fat and related metabolic abnormalities. The triglyceride-glucose-waist-to-height ratio (TyG-WHtR) integrates metabolic indicators with anthropometric indicators, which may provide a more accurate tool for OSA risk assessment. The main purpose of this study is to look at the relationship between TyG-WHtR and OSA risk in the adult population, and to evaluate whether it can play a role as a screening tool in clinical practice. Methods: A total of 3193 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2017 to 2020 were included in this cross-sectional study. We use a multivariate logistic regression model. On the one hand, TyG-WHtR is treated as a continuous variable, and on the other hand, it is treated as a categorical variable to evaluate its relationship with OSA risk. In order to further verify the robustness of the results, we also performed subgroup analysis, dose-response relationship analysis, threshold effect analysis, and sensitivity analysis. Results: Among the 3193 participants included in the study, there was a significant correlation between higher TyG-WHtR and higher self-reported OSA risk. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, the odds ratio (OR) between TyG-WHtR and self-reported OSA risk reached 1.59 (95 % CI: 1.47-1.72). Dose-response analysis showed that with the increasing level of TyG-WHtR, the risk of self-reported OSA was also increasing. Further analysis also found that there is a threshold effect between TyG-WHtR and self-reported OSA risk, and the inflection point falls at the position of 5.26. That is to say, on both sides of this critical value, the increase in OSA risk will be different. The results of sensitivity analysis further support the stability of the above correlation. Conclusion: TyG-WHtR can be used as a useful marker of self-reported OSA risk, and may also be a relatively convenient screening tool, especially in resource-limited areas where polysomnography is still difficult to popularize. However, some prospective studies are still needed in the future, so as to better verify our current results and further clarify the biological mechanism behind this association.