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Obstructive sleep apnoea and risks of all-cause mortality: preliminary evidence from prospective cohort studies

  • Epidemiology • Review
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Abstract

Purpose

A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies was conducted to clarify the association between obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and future risk of all-cause mortality.

Methods

Eligible studies were identified by searching the PubMed and EMBASE databases up to July 2015. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and their corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the association between OSA and risk of all-cause mortality. Sources of heterogeneity were identified by subgroup and meta-regression analyses.

Results

Twelve prospective cohort studies involving 34,382 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled HR of all-cause mortality was 1.262 (95 % CI 1.093–1.431) with significant heterogeneity. Subgroup analyses indicated that the pooled HRs of all-cause mortality in patients with mild, moderate and severe OSA were 0.945 (95 % CI 0.810–1.081), 1.178 (95 % CI 0.978–1.378) and 1.601 (95 % CI 1.298–1.902), respectively. OSA severity could be a possible sources of heterogeneity. Existing publication bias produced a minor contribution to effect size.

Conclusion

Severe, but not mild to moderate, OSA is significantly associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong, 256603, China

    Lei Pan

  2. Department of Radiotherapy, Xuzhou Central Hospital, The Affiliated Xuzhou Hospital of Medical College of Southeast University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, 221009, China

    Xiaomei Xie

  3. Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266003, China

    Dunqiang Ren

  4. Department of Respiratory Medicine, XuZhou Central Hospital, The Affiliated XuZhou Hospital of Medical College of Southeast University, 199 South Jiefang Road, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, 221009, China

    Dayue Liu & Yongzhong Guo

Authors
  1. Lei Pan
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  2. Xiaomei Xie
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  3. Dayue Liu
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  4. Dunqiang Ren
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  5. Yongzhong Guo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yongzhong Guo.

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Funding

Xuzhou Science and Technology Bureau provided financial support in the form of social development funding (XZZD1345). The sponsor had no role in the design or conduct of this research.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Lei Pan, Xiaomei Xie and Dayue Liu contributed equally to this study.

Electronic supplementary material

Fig. S1

The result of cumulative meta-analysis based on sample size. (GIF 43 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 91217 kb)

Fig. S2

The result of cumulative meta-analysis based on publication year. (GIF 40 kb)

High Resolution Image (TIFF 90811 kb)

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Pan, L., Xie, X., Liu, D. et al. Obstructive sleep apnoea and risks of all-cause mortality: preliminary evidence from prospective cohort studies. Sleep Breath 20, 345–353 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-015-1295-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-015-1295-7

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