Snoring and glaucoma

To examine a potential association between snoring and glaucoma in a population-based setting.

The population-based Beijing Eye Study 2011 included 3468 subjects with an age of 50+ years. The participants underwent a detailed ophthalmic examination. Glaucoma was determined according to the ophthalmoscopic appearance of the optic nerve head. Snoring assessed in an interview was graded into "severe snoring", "moderate snoring", and "no snoring".

Data on snoring and glaucoma were available for 3146 subjects. Snoring was reported for 1787 (66.8%) subjects, with moderate snoring reported for 1384 (44.0%) subjects and severe snoring for 403 (12.8%) subjects. In multivariate analysis, prevalence of severe snoring was significantly associated with male gender (P = 0.002; regression coefficient B: 0.36; Odds ratio (OR): 1.44 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14, 1.81)), higher body mass index (P<0.001; B: 0.12; OR: 1.13 (95%CI: 1.09, 1.16)), higher systolic blood pressure (P<0.001; B: 0.01; OR: 1.01 (95%CI: 1.005, 1.02)), younger age (P = 0.007; B: -0.018; OR: 0.98 (95%CI: 0.97, 0.995)), and higher cognitive function (P = 0.03; B: 0.04; OR: 1.04 (95%CI: 1.004, 1.08)), however it was not significantly associated with the prevalence of open-angle glaucoma (P = 0.10; B: -0.63; OR: 0.53 (95%CI: 0.25, 1.12)). Prevalence of severe snoring was neither significantly associated with the prevalence of angle-closure glaucoma (P = 0.65), retinal vein occlusions (P = 0.24), neuroretinal rim area (P = 0.19), retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (P = 0.16) nor vertical cup/disc ratio (P = 0.64).

Severe snoring was not significantly associated with the prevalence of open-angle glaucoma, angle-closure glaucoma or retinal vein occlusions after adjustment for age, gender, body mass index, systolic blood pressure and cognitive function score. Our population-based study did not reveal that snoring was a risk factor for glaucoma and thus did not provide a reason to assess or to treat snoring in patients with glaucoma.