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Review
. 2025 May 23;29(3):195.
doi: 10.1007/s11325-025-03343-x.

Walking the fine line between OSA and aging

Caterina Antonaglia  1 , Antonio Fabozzi  2 , Alessia Steffanina  2 , Riccardo Ture  3 , Paolo Palange  2 , Marco Confalonieri  3
Affiliations
Review

Walking the fine line between OSA and aging

Caterina Antonaglia et al. Sleep Breath. .

Abstract

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is the most common sleep- related breathing disorder. In recent years, evidence have shown that patients with OSA may have this disorder for different reasons, with different symptoms and comorbidities. Therefore, treatment should be individualized [1]. This has led to a growing interest in the characterization of the disease into phenotypes. OSA in elderly patients is often a challenge for clinician in terms of diagnosis, as symptoms may be masked, but also for treatment in terms of efficacy and adherence. However, aging is a pathophysiological factor that predisposes to obstructive sleep apnea, and the two conditions share symptoms and comorbidities to such an extent that it becomes very difficult to establish a casual link between the two. We summarize the recent evidence in OSA elderly patients, particularly in terms of pathophysiology, symptoms and main comorbidities.

Keywords: Aging; Comorbidity; Elderly; Obstructive sleep apnea; Phenotype; Sleep apnea syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Compliance with Ethical Standards: We declare that this study received no funding. Conflict of interest: Authors have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors. The manuscript has no associated data.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Symptoms and comorbidities in common between OSA and Aging
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
A graphical summary of findings from this narrative review. BMI, body mass index; HB, hypoxic burden; PWAD, pulse wave amplitude drops; CPAP, continuous positive airway pressure; p-OSA, positional obstructive sleep apnea; MAD, mandibular advancement device
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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