title: Increased prevalence of obstructive lung disease in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
abstract: This study aims to determine whether there is an increased prevalence of obstructive lung diseases (OLDs) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We also determined whether among the OLD patients there is a difference in the prevalences of specific chronic disease co-morbidities between patients with and without OSA.
  
  
  METHODS
  The prevalences of COPD, asthma, and COPD combined with asthma (ICD-9 coding) were compared between 1,497 adult OSA patients and 1,489 control patients, who were matched for age, gender, geographic location, and primary care physician. The prevalences of specific co-morbidities were measured in the OLD groups between patients with OSA and the matched control group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  COPD, asthma, and COPD combined with asthma were found to be more prevalent among OSA patients compared to the matched controls. Prevalences among patients with and without OSA, respectively, were COPD-7.6 and 3.7 % (P<0.0001), asthma-10.4 and 5.1 % (P<0.0001), COPD plus asthma-3.3 and 0.9 % (P<0.0001). The Charlson Comorbidity Index was greater for OSA patients (2.3 ± 0.2) than for controls (1.9 ± 1.8; P<0.0001). These trends held for all severity ranges of OSA. Patients with OSA and COPD were characterized by more severe hypoxia at night compared with the OSA patients without OLD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OSA was associated with an increased prevalence of OLDs.
authors.affiliation: Sleep-Wake Disorders Unit, Soroka University Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel, sari@post.bgu.ac.il.
authors.forename: Sari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Greenberg-Dotan
authors.forename: Haim
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Reuveni
authors.forename: Asher
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tal
authors.forename: Arie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oksenberg
authors.forename: Arnon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Fadia T
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Shaya
authors.forename: Ariel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tarasiuk
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Scharf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*