Citation

Hulvej Rod N, Kjeldgård L, Akerstedt T, Ferrie JE, Salo P, Vahtera J, Alexanderson K. Am. J. Epidemiol. 2017; 186(6): 709-718.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/aje/kwx138

PMID

28520881

Abstract

Sleep apnea is a common problem affecting daily functioning and health. We evaluated associations between sleep apnea and disability pension and mortality in a prospective study of 74,543 cases of sleep apnea (60,125 outpatient; 14,418 inpatient) from the Swedish Patient Register; 2000-2009 inclusive. Cases were matched to five non-cases (n = 371,592) and followed from diagnosis/inclusion via nationwide registers until Dec 31 2010. During a mean (standard deviation) follow-up of 5.1 (2.7) years, 13% men and 21% women with inpatient sleep apnea were disability pensioned. Inpatient sleep apnea was associated with higher total mortality (HR = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.59, 1.84 men; 2.33; 95% CI: 2.04, 2.67 women), with associations strongest for deaths due to ischemic heart disease (HR = 2.27; 95% CI:1.94, 2.65 men; 95% CI: 5.27; 3.78, 7.34 women), respiratory disorders (HR = 3.29; 95% CI: 2.45, 4.42 men; 5.24; 95% CI: 3.52, 7.81 women), and suicide (HR = 1.76; 95% CI: 1.19, 2.60 men; 4.33; 95% CI: 1.96, 9.56 women). There were no associations of inpatient sleep apnea with cancer mortality. Outpatient sleep apnea was associated with higher risk of disability pension, but not higher total mortality. In conclusion, inpatient sleep apnea is related to a higher risk of disability pension and mortality a decade after diagnosis.

© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Language: en

Keywords

Disability pension; Epidemiology; Mortality; Prospective studies; Sleep; Sleep apnea syndromes