Coexisting Depression and Sleep Apnea Increase risk of CV related morbidity and all cause mortality

The aim of this study is to explore the association between depression and obstructive sleep apnea, and cardiovascular disease morbidity/all-cause mortality using Sleep Heart Health Study data. This post hoc analysis of a prospective study used patient data from the Sleep Heart Health Study conducted between 1995 and 1998. The association between depression and obstructive sleep apnea, and cardiovascular disease morbidity/all-cause mortality was explored using multivariable Cox proportional hazard models.

A total of 4918 participants, 656 (13.3%) with obstructive sleep apnea (obstructive sleep apnea group), 1614 (32.8%) with depression (depression group), 482 (9.8%) with depression and obstructive sleep apnea (depression and obstructive sleep apnea group), and 2166 (44%) with neither obstructive sleep apnea nor depression (health group), were included.

Results:

The incidence of cardiovascular disease was 24.5%, 31.0%, 31.6% and 41.7% for healthy, depression, obstructive sleep apnea, and depression and obstructive sleep apnea groups, respectively.

The risk of cardiovascular disease in depression and obstructive sleep apnea participants was increased compared with that in healthy participants, which was consistent across various definitions of obstructive sleep apnea for apnea–hypopnea index ≥ 10 per hr, 15 per hr, 20 per hr, 30 per hr, respectively).

The risk of all-cause mortality was increased in the depression and obstructive sleep apnea participants compared with that in healthy participants when the definition of obstructive sleep apnea was apnea–hypopnea index ≥ 30.

Participants with depression and obstructive sleep apnea might be at a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, and those with higher apnea–hypopnea index might be at a greater risk of all-cause mortality.

Reference:

Liu, H., Peng, W., Zhou, L., Shen, Y., Xu, B., Xie, J., Cai, T., Zhou, J., & Li, C. (2023). Depression with obstructive sleep apnea lead to high cardiovascular disease morbidity/all-cause mortality: Findings from the SHHS cohort. Journal of Sleep Research, e13828. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13828