Associations of Moderate to Severe Asthma with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between associating factors of moderate to severe asthma with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Materials and Methods: One hundred and sixty-seven patients who visited the pulmonary and sleep clinic in Severance Hospital presenting with symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing were evaluated. All subjects were screened with ApneaLink. Thirty-two subjects with a high likelihood of having OSA were assessed with full polysomnography (PSG). Results: The mean age was 58.8 +/- 12.0 years and 58.7% of subjects were male. The mean ApneaLink apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) was 12.7 +/- 13.0/hr. The mean ApneaLink AEI for the 32 selected high risk patients of OSA was 22.3 +/- 13.2/hr, which was lower than the sleep laboratory-based PSG AHI of 39.1 +/- 20.5/hr. When OSA was defined at an ApneaLink AHI >= 5/hr, the positive correlating factors for OSA were age, male gender, and moderate to severe asthma. Conclusion: Moderate to severe asthma showed strong correlation with OSA when defined at an ApneaLink AHI >= 5/hr.