The correlation between triglyceride-glucose index and the risk and severity of obstructive sleep apnea in the general population: a single-center cross-sectional study

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder characterized by airway obstruction. Recent evidence suggests that insulin resistance (IR) may significantly impact sleep health. The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index has emerged as a non-invasive marker of IR, potentially linked to OSA risk. However, existing studies often featured small sample sizes and limited analyses. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the TyG index and the risk and severity of OSA in the general population. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, single-center, retrospective study involving 600 adult patients with complete sleep respiratory monitoring results at West China Hospital from December 2024 to May 2025. The TyG index was treated as the exposure variable, while the risk and severity of OSA were the outcome variables. The TyG index was calculated as follows: TyG = ln [fasting triglycerides (TG) (mg/dL) × fasting blood glucose (FBG) (mg/dL)/2]. To assess the relationship between the TyG index and OSA, we performed multivariate logistic regression, subgroup analyses, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. Results: Among the total population, 515 (85.8%) were diagnosed with OSA and 247 individuals (41.2%) had severe OSA. After adjusting for potential confounders including age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, antihypertensive drugs, hypoglycemic drugs and various biochemical markers, multivariate logistic regression revealed that a one-unit increase in the TyG index was associated with a 168.9% higher risk of OSA (P