Cardiovascular comorbidities in obstructive sleep apnoea according to age: a sleep clinic population study

To describe the features of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and its association with arterial hypertension (HT), coronary artery disease (CAD), and arrhythmias in elderly (≥65 years) versus younger patients.

All adult patients referred to our Sleep Research Unit for suspected OSA were included and underwent a thorough medical examination and an in-laboratory polysomnography. The severity of OSA was defined by the apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) as mild [5-15/h), moderate [15-30/h), and severe (≥30/h).

Elderly patients (n = 136) and really old patients (>75 years) had higher prevalence of OSA (89 %) and severe OSA (36.8 %) as compared to younger patients (n = 439; 79.5 and 27.6 %, respectively, p < 0.05). In patients with OSA, the elderly group had a poorer sleep quality and more severe nocturnal oxygen desaturation than the younger group. Elderly patients presented higher percentages of HT (47.8 %), CAD (19.8 %), and arrhythmias (16.2 %) as compared to younger patients (p < 0.01). The odds ratio (OR) for HT increased with OSA severity from 1.0 to 1.65 (95 % confidence interval 0.83-3.27), 1.0 to 2.5 (95 % CI 1.25-5.00), and 1.0 to 3.77 (1.95-7.29) in younger patients, but not in elderly ones where the OR increased from 1.0 to 0.6 (0.17-2.04), 1.0 to 1.14 (0.34-3.82), and 1.0 to 1.46 (0.46-4.63), respectively.

Stronger relation of HT and OSA severity in younger patients should encourage us to screen OSA in these patients at very young age. Increased OSA severity without obesity in very old patients needs to be confirmed and further studied.