Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Dec 15;172(12):1590-5.
doi: 10.1164/rccm.200504-637OC. Epub 2005 Sep 28.

Association of sleep apnea and type II diabetes: a population-based study

Kevin J Reichmuth  1 , Diane Austin, James B Skatrud, Terry Young
Affiliations

Association of sleep apnea and type II diabetes: a population-based study

Kevin J Reichmuth et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. .

Abstract

Rationale: Cross-sectional association has been reported between sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and insulin resistance, but no prospective studies have been performed to determine whether SDB is causal in the development of diabetes.

Objectives: The purpose of our study was to investigate the prevalence and incidence of type II diabetes in subjects with SDB and whether an independent relationship exists between them.

Methods: A cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis was performed in 1,387 participants of the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort. Full polysomnography was used to characterize SDB. Diabetes was defined in two ways: (1) physician-diagnosis alone or (2) for those with glucose measurements, either fasting glucose > or = 126 mg/dl or physician diagnosis.

Measurements and main results: There was a greater prevalence of diabetes in subjects with increasing levels of SDB. A total of 14.7% of subjects with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 15 or more had a diagnosis of diabetes compared with 2.8% of subjects with an AHI of less than 5. The odds ratio for having a physician diagnoses of diabetes mellitus with an AHI of 15 or greater versus an AHI of less than 5 was 2.30 (95% confidence interval, 1.28-4.11; p = 0.005) after adjustment for age, sex, and body habitus. The odds ratio for developing diabetes mellitus within 4 yr with an AHI of 15 or more compared with an AHI of less than 5 was 1.62 (95% confidence interval, 0.67-3.65; p = 0.24) when adjusting for age, sex, and body habitus.

Conclusions: Diabetes is more prevalent in SDB and this relationship is independent of other risk factors. However, it is not clear that SDB is causal in the development of diabetes.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Early release of selected estimates based on data from the January–June 2003 National Health Interview Survey. Released 12/17/2003 [cited January 20, 2005]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/nhis/released200312.htm 14.
    1. Young T, Palta M, Dempsey J, Skatrud J, Weber S, Badr S. The occurrence of sleep-disordered breathing among middle-aged adults. N Engl J Med 1993;328:1230–1235. - PubMed
    1. Hoyert DL, Kung H, Smith BL. Deaths: preliminary data for 2003. Nat Vital Stat Rep 2005;15:5. - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National diabetes fact sheet; general information and national estimates on diabetes in the United States. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2005. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/estimates05.htm deaths.
    1. Young T, Peppard PE, Gottlieb DJ. Epidemiology of obstructive sleep apnea: a population health perspective. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2002;165:1217–1239. - PubMed

Publication types