A team of researchers from Iceland recently studied the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). They tried to establish if confounders played any role, such as several known risk factors for severe COVID-19 associated with OSA.

The researchers conducted a nationwide study to find the relation between OSA and severe COVID-19; they suggest that OSA is an independent risk factor for severe COVID-19, defined as hospitalization or death. This is an important finding that should be considered during the clinical evaluation of risk profiles for COVID-19.

The researchers reported that the OSA was associated with a two-fold increase in the risk of severe COVID-19. The researchers adjusted the association for demographic characteristics and various comorbidities and found little change, indicating an OSA-associated risk for severe COVID-19 is not explained by obesity or other comorbidities.

The researchers recommended larger studies to evaluate the different phenotypes of OSA further, examine possible pathophysiological mechanisms, and investigate the effect of PAP treatment on the outcomes of COVID-19.

Journal reference:

Rögnvaldsson, K. et al. (2021) “Obstructive sleep apnea is an independent risk factor for severe COVID-19: a population-based study”, Sleep. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsab272. https://academic.oup.com/sleep/advance-article/doi/10.1093/sleep/zsab272/6430441

Source Author: By Dr. Ramya Dwivedi, Ph.D.Jan 7 2022 Reviewed by Danielle Ellis, B.Sc.