Sleep apnea doubles risk of depression, finds Study

Written By : Medha Baranwal |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2020-12-03T06:45:19+05:30 | Updated On 30 Sept 2023 5:25 PM IST

Perth, Australia: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients are at twice the risk for depression than patients without OSA, suggests a recent study in the journal Maturitas.

OSA and depression have many overlapping symptoms. Studies have suggested a casual association between the two but the association is poorly understood. There is a limited information in terms of both quality and quantity and the outcomes are ambiguous. Therefore, there is a need for high-quality studies to clarify the true nature of this association. Considering this, Cass Edwards, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, and colleagues reviewed the association between OSA and depression and compared the prevalence of depression among people with and without OSA.

The researches conducted the systematic review and meta-analysis following PRISMA guidelines. They searched for papers published between 1 January 2010 and 20 October 2019 listed on the Embase, Ovid MEDLINER(R) and PsychINFO databases. The search strategy yielded 1158 papers, out of which 34 were selected for the review and 11 reported data that could be used for meta-analysis.

Also Read:
Obstructive sleep apnea linked to increased risk of dementia, Study finds

Key findings of the study include:

Data from the 6 cross-sectional studies found no compelling evidence of an association between OSA and depression (odds ratio = 1.12),
The meta-analysis of 5 longitudinal studies indicated that people with OSA were at greater risk of developing depression during follow-up than those without OSA (non-specific risk ratio (RR) = 2.18), although there was evidence of high study heterogeneity (I ² = 72.8 %).

"Our results were consistent with the hypothesis that OSA may increase the risk of depression. Sample characteristics and various methodological issues create uncertainty about the validity and generalizability of these associations," concluded the authors.

Also Read: Finasteride increases risk of depression and suicide finds JAMA Study

"Obstructive sleep apnea and depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis," is published in the journal Maturitas.

DOI: https://www.maturitas.org/article/S0378-5122(20)30291-7/fulltext

Maturitasdepressionsleep apnea

Source : Maturitas

Medha Baranwal

MSc. Biotechnology

Medha Baranwal joined Medical Dialogues as an Editor in 2018 for Speciality Medical Dialogues. She covers several medical specialties including Cardiac Sciences, Dentistry, Diabetes and Endo, Diagnostics, ENT, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, and Radiology. She has completed her Bachelors in Biomedical Sciences from DU and then pursued Masters in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a working experience of 5 years in the field of medical research writing, scientific writing, content writing, and content management. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751