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Association Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Barrett’s Esophagus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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Abstract

Background

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has gastrointestinal implications as it is associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease. Less certain is an independent association between OSA and Barrett’s esophagus. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between OSA and Barrett’s esophagus.

Methods

A systematic search of Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials was performed. Inclusion criteria were observational studies (retrospective and case–control) assessing the association between OSA and Barrett’s esophagus in adult subjects. Data from the included studies were extracted and used to calculate the pooled odds ratio of OSA with 95% confidence interval (CI) between patients with Barrett’s esophagus and those without, using a random-effects model.

Results

Altogether six studies involving 2333 subjects met the inclusion criteria and were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled analysis found a significantly increased risk of OSA, high risk of OSA, and patient-reported OSA symptoms among patients with Barrett’s esophagus versus those without Barrett’s esophagus, with a pooled odds ratio (OR) of 2.19 (95% CI 1.53–3.15). A subgroup analysis for cases of definite OSA (formally diagnosed via polysomnography) and Barrett’s esophagus (n = 2 studies) also demonstrated significant association (OR 2.59, 95% CI 1.39–4.84).

Conclusion

A significantly increased risk of OSA among patients with Barrett’s esophagus was demonstrated in this meta-analysis. Further investigation is warranted to determine the pathophysiology and clinical implications of this association.

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Correspondence to Yousef Elfanagely.

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Appendix

Appendix

Name of search

Obstructive sleep apnea and Barrett’s esophagus

Databases search

MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)

Inclusion criteria

Observational studies assessing association between obstructive sleep apnea and Barrett’s esophagus in adults

Exclusion criteria

 

Concept 1

Obstructive sleep apnea

Concept 2

Barrett’s esophagus

Database

Ovid MEDLINE and epub ahead of print, in-process and other non-indexed citations and daily

 

Years searched

1946 to May 15, 2020

 

Date last searched

May 18, 2020

 

Limits

Humans (search hedge)

 

Number of results

16

 

Notes

  

1

exp sleep apnea syndromes/

35,201

2

(sleep$ adj3 apn?ea$).tw.

36,532

3

hypopn?ea$.tw.

11,731

4

(hypoventilat$ adj3 (obes$ or obstruct$)).tw.

781

5

pickwick$.tw.

387

6

osa.tw.

13,714

7

osahs.tw.

1427

8

or/1-7

47,826

9

barrett esophagus/

7796

10

(barret$ adj3 (dysplas$ or epitheli$ or esophagus$ or metaplas$ or mucosa$ or oesophagus$ or syndrom$)).tw.

9146

11

(column$ adj3 (line$ or metaplas$)).tw.

2613

12

(intestin$ adj3 (dysplas$ or metaplas$)).tw.

6123

13

or/9-12

16,985

14

and/8,13

16

15

exp animals/not humans/

4,698,916

16

14 not 15

16

Database

Embase

 

Platform

Elsevier

 

Years searched

1947 - Present

 

Date last searched

May 18, 2020

 

Limits

Humans (search hedge)

 

Number of results

63

 

Notes

  

1

‘sleep disordered breathing’/exp

79,097

2

(sleep* NEAR/3 apn$ea*):ti,ab,kw

63,570

3

‘hypopn$ea*’:ti,ab,kw

20,426

4

(hypoventilat* NEAR/3 (obes* OR obstruct*)):ti,ab,kw

1537

5

‘pickwick*’:ti,ab,kw

612

6

‘osa’:ti,ab,kw

27,547

7

‘osahs’:ti,ab,kw

2013

8

#1 OR #2 OR #3 OR #4 OR #5 OR #6 OR #7

88,534

9

‘barrett esophagus’/de

16,547

10

(barret* NEAR/3 (dysplas* OR epitheli* OR esophagus* OR metaplas* OR musoca* OR oesophagus* OR syndrom*)):ti,ab,kw

15,098

11

(column* NEAR/3 (line* OR metaplas*)):ti,ab,kw

3894

12

(intestin* NEAR/3 (dysplas* OR metaplas*)):ti,ab,kw

10,037

13

#9 OR #10 OR #11 OR #12

28,820

14

#8 AND #13

63

15

[animals]/lim NOT [humans]/lim

6,031,946

16

#14 NOT #15

63

Database

Web of Science Core Collection (Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Emerging Sources Citation Index)

 

Platform

Web of Science, Clarivate Analytics

 

Years searched

1900 - Present

 

Date last searched

May 18, 2020

 

Limits

None

 

Number of results

42

 

Notes

  

1

TOPIC: (sleep* NEAR/3 apn$ea*)

49,544

2

TOPIC: (hypopn$ea*)

12,257

3

TOPIC: (hypoventilat* NEAR/3 (obes* OR obstruct*))

1098

4

TOPIC: (pickwick*)

423

5

TOPIC: (‘osa’)

25,673

6

TOPIC: (‘osahs’)

846

7

#6 OR #5 OR #4 OR #3 OR #2 OR #1

65,696

8

TOPIC: (barret* NEAR/3 (dysplas* OR epitheli* OR esophagus* OR metaplas* OR musoca* OR oesophagus* OR syndrom*))

16,666

9

TOPIC: (column* NEAR/3 (line* OR metaplas*))

5575

10

TOPIC: (intestin* NEAR/3 (dysplas* OR metaplas*))

8005

11

#10 OR #9 OR #8

26,830

12

#11 AND #7

42

Database

CINAHL Complete

 

Platform

EBSCO

 

Years searched

1937 - Present

 

Date last searched

May 18, 2020

 

Limits

None

 

Number of results

5

 

Notes

  

1

(MH “Sleep Apnea Syndromes + ”)

14,921

2

(TI sleep* N3 apn#ea*) OR (AB sleep* N3 apn#ea*)

13,211

3

(TI hypopn#ea*) OR (AB hypopn#ea*)

3415

4

(TI hypoventilat* N3 (obes* OR obstruct*)) OR (AB hypoventilat* N3 (obes* OR obstruct*))

312

5

(TI pickwick*) OR (AB pickwick*)

39

6

(TI ‘osa’) OR (AB ‘osa’)

5498

7

(TI ‘osahs’) OR (AB ‘osahs’)

223

8

S1 OR S2 OR S3 OR S4 OR S5 OR S6 OR S7

19,069

9

(MH “Barrett Esophagus”)

2038

10

(TI barret* N3 (dysplas* OR epitheli* OR esophagus* OR metaplas* OR musoca* OR oesophagus* OR syndrom*)) OR (AB barret* N3 (dysplas* OR epitheli* OR esophagus* OR metaplas* OR musoca* OR oesophagus* OR syndrom*))

1884

11

(TI column* N3 (line* OR metaplas*)) OR (AB column* N3 (line* OR metaplas*))

184

12

(TI intestin* N3 (dysplas* OR metaplas*)) OR (AB intestin* N3 (dysplas* OR metaplas*))

615

13

S9 OR S10 OR S11 OR S12

2930

14

S8 AND S13

5

Database

Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)

 

Platform

Wiley

 

Years searched

All years

 

Date last searched

May 18, 2020

 

Limits

None

 

Number of results

3

 

Notes

  

1

[mh “sleep apnea syndromes”] in Trials

2526

2

(sleep* NEAR/3 apn?ea*):ti,ab,kw in Trials

6437

3

(hypopn?ea*):ti,ab,kw in Trials

2488

4

(hypoventilat* NEAR/3 (obes* OR obstruct*)):ti,ab,kw in Trials

167

5

(pickwick*):ti,ab,kw in Trials

19

6

(‘osa’):ti,ab,kw in Trials

2973

7

(‘osahs’):ti,ab,kw in Trials

184

8

#1 OR #2 OR #3 OR #4 OR #5 OR #6 OR #7 in Trials

7101

9

[mh “barrett esophagus”] in Trials

235

10

(barret* NEAR/3 (dysplas* OR epitheli* OR esophagus* OR metaplas* OR musoca* OR oesophagus* OR syndrom*)):ti,ab,kw in Trials

628

11

(column* NEAR/3 (line* OR metaplas*)):ti,ab,kw in Trials

41

12

(intestin* NEAR/3 (dysplas* OR metaplas*)):ti,ab,kw in Trials

369

13

#9 OR #10 OR #11 OR #12 in Trials

901

14

#8 AND #13 in Trials

3

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Elfanagely, Y., Atsawarungruangkit, A., Scharfen, J. et al. Association Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Barrett’s Esophagus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Dig Dis Sci 66, 3689–3697 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-020-06709-1

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