Obstructive Sleep Apnea Is More Common in Asthma Patients

Observational studies show that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is more prevalent in patients with asthma than in those without. This study provides additional evidence for that association in a population-based cohort.

In the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, 1521 randomly chosen state employees were followed from 1988 to 2013; participants underwent overnight polysomnography every 4 years. Among 81 participants with asthma whose sleep studies were normal at baseline, 22 (27%) developed OSA (defined by an apnea-hypopnea index of ≥5 events per hour), whereas 245 participants without asthma (17%) developed OSA. Relative risk for new-onset OSA was 1.39 in asthmatic participants and was independent of body-mass index.