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The impact of sleep duration in obstructive sleep apnea patients

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Abstract

Purpose

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Strong associations have been reported among sleep duration, hypertension, obesity, and cardiovascular mortality. The authors hypothesize that sleep duration may play a role in OSA severity. The aim of this study is to analyze sleep duration in OSA patients.

Methods

Patients who underwent overnight polysomnography were consecutively selected from the Sleep Clinic of Universidade Federal de São Paulo database between March 2009 and December 2010. All subjects were asked to come to the Sleep Clinic at 8:00 a.m. for a clinical evaluation and actigraphy. Anthropometric parameters such as weight, height, hip circumference, abdominal circumference, and neck circumference were also measured.

Results

One hundred thirty-three patients were divided into four groups based on total sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep latency, and wake after sleep onset: very short sleepers (n = 11), short sleepers (n = 21), intermediate sleepers (n = 56), and sufficient sleepers (n = 45). Apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) was higher in very short sleepers (50.18 ± 30.86 events/h) compared with intermediate sleepers (20.36 ± 14.68 events/h; p = 0.007) and sufficient sleepers (23.21 ± 20.45 events/h; p = 0.02). Minimal and mean arterial oxygen saturation and time spent below 90 % oxygen saturation exhibited worse values in very short sleepers. After adjustment for gender, age, AHI, and body mass index, mean oxygen saturation was significantly associated to total sleep time (p = 0.01).

Conclusions

In conclusion, the present study suggests that sleep duration may be associated to low mean oxygen saturation in OSA patients.

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Acknowledgment

This study was supported by FAPESP/AFIP.

Conflict of interest

None

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiology Division, Medicine Department, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Napoleão de Barros, 925. Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP, 04024-002, Brazil

    Thaís T. Risso, Camila F. Rizzi, Cristiane Pulz, Angelo A. V. de Paola & Fátima Cintra

  2. Sleep Medicine and Biology Division, Psychobiology Department, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Napoleão de Barros, 925. Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP, 04024-002, Brazil

    Thaís T. Risso, Dalva Poyares, Camila F. Rizzi, Sergio Tufik & Fátima Cintra

  3. Sleep Disorders Center, Psychiatry Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Christian Guilleminault

  4. Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Borges Lagoa, 783. Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP, 04038-031, Brazil

    Fátima Cintra

Authors
  1. Thaís T. Risso
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  2. Dalva Poyares
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Correspondence to Thaís T. Risso.

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Risso, T.T., Poyares, D., Rizzi, C.F. et al. The impact of sleep duration in obstructive sleep apnea patients. Sleep Breath 17, 837–843 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-012-0774-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-012-0774-3

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