Association between residential greenness and obstructive sleep apnoea among adults in Southern China

Background: No previous study has explored the association of residential greenness with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) indexes. Objective: To investigate the association of exposure to residential greenness with OSA indexes in adults in Guangdong Province, Southern China. Methods: From January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2015, a total of 3925 participants were recruited from the Sleep Center of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital. Apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and oxygen desaturation index (ODI) were measured by polysomnography or home sleep test (HST). Participants' daytime sleepiness scores were evaluated using The Epworth Sleeping Scale (ESS). The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI) were used to assess residential greenness levels. Generalized linear regression models were used to assess the associations of residential greenness with OSA indexes after adjusting for multiple covariates. Results: The mean (standard deviation) age of the participants was 63.3 (14.4) years. In adjusted models, an inter-quartile range (IQR) increase in 3-year average NDVI was significantly associated with 9.8 % (95 % confidence interval

Automated summary

This study investigated the association of residential greenness with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) indexes in adults in Guangdong Province, Southern China. The results showed a significant association between residential greenness levels and OSA indexes.