title: Obstructive sleep apnoea and quality of life in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome: a parallel cohort study.
abstract: Patients with the connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) often suffer from fatigue, excessive daytime sleepiness and impaired quality of life. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) may be an underlying cause for these symptoms but its prevalence in this population is unclear.
  
  
  
  In this prospective parallel-cohort study, we included 100 adult patients with EDS (46% hypermobile-type, 35% classical-type and 19% other), which were one-to-one matched to 100 healthy adult controls according to sex, age, weight and height. Participants underwent structured interviews (including short-form 36) and level-3 respiratory polygraphy. OSA was defined as apnoea-hypopnea index ≥5/hour. Photographic craniofacial phenotyping was conducted in a subgroup. Conditional logistic regression was used to compare the prevalence of OSA.
  
  
  
  In patients with EDS, OSA prevalence was 32% versus 6% in the matched control group (OR 5.3 (95% CI 2.5 to 11.2); p<0.001). The EDS group reported impaired quality of life in all dimensions (p<0.05) and significantly higher excessive daytime sleepiness measured by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (median (quartiles) 11 (7-14) vs 7 (5-10); p<0.001). OSA severity was positively associated with daytime sleepiness and lower quality of life in the EDS group. There was no evidence of a difference between the two study groups in terms of craniofacial phenotypes.
  
  
  
  The prevalence of OSA is higher in patients with EDS than in a matched control group. This is of clinical relevance as it is associated with fatigue, excessive daytime sleepiness and impaired quality of life. Further studies are needed to assess the clinical benefit of OSA treatment in patients with EDS.
  
  
  
  NCT02435745.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9017-6143
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gaisl
authors.affiliation: Division of Metabolism, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giunta
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bratton
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sutherland
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schlatzer
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Noriane
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sievi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Franzen
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Cistulli
authors.affiliation: Division of Metabolism, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rohrbach
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.|Centre for Interdisciplinary Sleep Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Malcolm
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kohler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004535:Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Clinical Epidemiology; Connective tissue disease associated lung disease; Sleep apnoea