Objective. To calculate the prevalence of respiratory disorders during sleep (RDS), apnoea, and related factors, in a rural population. Design. Prevalence study. Participants. Random sample of 228 individuals chosen from a health centre's appointment records. Main measurements. Anamnesis about sleep and respiratory disorders during sleep, anthropometric measurements, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, nocturnal pulse oximetry, and polysomnography. Results. Five subjects were found to have RDS plus sleepiness. The estimated prevalence of apnoea was 2.1% (95% CI, 0.3-3.9). The prevalence of RDS, daytime sleepiness and habitual snoring was 25.4% (20.2-30.5), 7.4% (3.9-10.8), and 30.7% (25.4-36.4), respectively. RDS was associated with age, body mass index (BMI), and snoring. Conclusions. RDS is a common problem in our population. In this study, age, BMI and snoring were found to be factors associated with RDS.