@article {688, title = {The relationship between chronically disrupted sleep and healthcare use.}, journal = {Sleep}, volume = {25}, year = {2002}, month = {2002 May 01}, pages = {289-96}, abstract = {

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To determine whether chronic sleep deprivation, sleep disruption, sleepiness, insomnia, and OSA are associated with increased healthcare use in a community-based population.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.

SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: 6440 Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS) participants recruited from ongoing cohort studies.

INTERVENTIONS: N/A.

MEASUREMENTS: Polysomnography results (Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI), percent of sleep time with oxyhemoglobin saturation below 90\% (CT90), arousal index) as well as data on sleep related symptoms, medication use, and chronic illness. The indirect measure of predicted healthcare utilization was the modified Chronic Disease Score (CDS) calculated from medication data.

RESULTS: After adjustment for age, gender, BMI and study site, subjects in the highest quartiles of AHI, CT90 and Epworth score had CDS that were 6\%-9\% higher than the lowest quartiles. The adjusted mean CDS for subjects with sleep apnea was similar to that for subjects with hypertension, chronic bronchitis or asthma and 18\% greater than the mean CDS for subjects without sleep apnea. Among subjects who did not have significant sleep-disordered breathing, complaints of insomnia, sleepiness, fatigue, and not getting enough sleep were associated with increased CDS.

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated an association between subjective complaints of daytime sleepiness, inadequate sleep time, insomnia as well as objective measures of severity of SDB, and an indirect measure of healthcare utilization in a community-based sample. Though the percent increases in healthcare utilization observed were modest, the prevalence of these factors in the general population is high, and may therefore be associated with a substantial cost burden to the healthcare system.

}, keywords = {Adult, Chronic Disease, Cohort Studies, Community Health Services, Cross-Sectional Studies, Disorders of Excessive Somnolence, Female, Health Status, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Polysomnography, Prevalence, Severity of Illness Index, Sleep Apnea, Obstructive, Sleep Deprivation}, issn = {0161-8105}, author = {Kapur, Vishesh K and Redline, Susan and Nieto, F Javier and Young, Terry B and Newman, Anne B and Henderson, Jeffrey A} } @article {1018, title = {Sleep-disordered breathing and cardiovascular disease: an outcome-based definition of hypopneas.}, journal = {Am J Respir Crit Care Med}, volume = {177}, year = {2008}, month = {2008 May 15}, pages = {1150-5}, abstract = {

RATIONALE: Epidemiologic studies on the consequences of sleep-disordered breathing invariably use the apnea-hypopnea index as the primary measure of disease severity. Although hypopneas constitute a majority of disordered breathing events, significant controversy remains about the best criteria used to define these events.

OBJECTIVES: The current investigation sought to assess the most appropriate definition for hypopneas that would be best correlated with cardiovascular disease.

METHODS: A community sample of middle-aged and older adults was recruited as part of the Sleep Heart Health Study. Full-montage polysomnography was conducted and hypopneas were defined using different thresholds of oxyhemoglobin desaturation with and without arousals. Prevalent cardiovascular disease was assessed based on self-report. Logistic regression analysis was used to characterize the independent association between the hypopnea index and prevalent cardiovascular disease.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Using a sample of 6,106 adults with complete data on cardiovascular disease status and polysomnography, the current study found that hypopneas associated with an oxyhemoglobin desaturation of 4\% or more were associated with prevalent cardiovascular disease independent of confounding covariates. The adjusted prevalent odds ratios for quartiles of the hypopnea index using a 4\% desaturation criterion were as follows: 1.00 (<1.10 events/h), 1.10 (1.01-3.20 events/h), 1.33 (3.21-7.69 events/h), and 1.41 (>7.69 events/h). Hypopnea measures based on less than 4\% oxyhemoglobin desaturation or presence of arousals showed no association with cardiovascular disease.

CONCLUSIONS: Hypopneas comprise a significant component of sleep-disordered breathing in the general community. By varying the criteria for defining hypopneas, this study demonstrates that hypopneas with a desaturation of at least 4\% are independently associated with cardiovascular disease. In contrast, no association was observed between cardiovascular disease and hypopneas associated with milder desaturations or arousals.

}, keywords = {Aged, Apnea, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cohort Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Odds Ratio, Oxyhemoglobins, Polysomnography, Sleep Apnea Syndromes, Terminology as Topic}, issn = {1535-4970}, doi = {10.1164/rccm.200712-1884OC}, author = {Punjabi, Naresh M and Newman, Anne B and Young, Terry B and Resnick, Helaine E and Sanders, Mark H} }