Obstructive Sleep Apnea Following Bariatric Surgery: 20 Year Outcomes From the Swedish Obese Subjects Study

Bariatric surgery has been suggested to improve obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in short-term studies, but long-term evidence is limited. We evaluated remission and new onset of OSA over 20 years in participants from the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study, comparing bariatric surgery with usual obesity care.

The SOS study is a nonrandomized, controlled intervention study including 4047 individuals who received bariatric surgery (n = 2010) or usual obesity care (n = 2037). OSA status was assessed via questionnaires at baseline and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, and 20 years. We examined remission and new onset of OSA among participants with or without the condition at baseline, comparing surgery to usual care.

On average over 20 years, bariatric surgery was associated with a 32.1 percentage points lower prevalence of OSA in participants with baseline OSA (95% CI: -36.9 to -27.2; p < 0.001) compared to usual care. Among those without baseline OSA, surgery patients had a 5.8 percentage points lower prevalence of new-onset OSA (95% CI: -7.1 to -4.6; p < 0.001).

Bariatric surgery was associated with durable OSA benefits, including higher remission and lower long-term new onset of OSA compared to usual obesity care.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01479452.