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Primary Care Respiratory Journal: Journal of the General Practice Airways Group logoLink to Primary Care Respiratory Journal: Journal of the General Practice Airways Group
letter
. 2009 Apr 30;18(4):328–330. doi: 10.4104/pcrj.2009.00020

The prevalence of asthma in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea

Mohammed Alharbi 1, Abdulelah Almutairi 1, Dhawi Alotaibi 1, Azam Alotaibi 1, Shaffi Shaikh 2, Ahmed S BaHammam 1,*
PMCID: PMC6619356  PMID: 19407917

Abstract

Background:

Most of the studies that have explored the relationship between obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and asthma have focused on the prevalence of snoring and OSA symptoms in patients with asthma.

Objectives:

This study was conducted to measure the reverse relationship — the prevalence of asthma in patients with diagnosed OSA.

Methods:

We assessed the prevalence of asthma in all patients diagnosed polysomnographically to have OSA during the study period. A logistic regression model was developed to assess the predictors for asthma in patients with OSA.

Results:

Six-hundred-and-six patients with OSA with a mean age of 40±14.5 yr (66.7% males) were included. Asthma was present in 213 OSA patients — a prevalence of 35.1%. Body mass index (>35 kg/m2) was the only predictor of asthma.

Conclusions:

Physicians should keep in mind the link between OSA and asthma. When one of these disorders is diagnosed, clinicians should consider the possible presence of the other.

Keywords: asthma, diagnosis, obstructive sleep apnoea, prevalence

Full Text

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Footnotes

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in relation to this article.


Articles from Primary Care Respiratory Journal: Journal of the General Practice Airways Group are provided here courtesy of Primary Care Respiratory Society UK/Macmillan Publishers Limited

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