Obstructive Sleep Apnea as a Risk Factor for Ischemic Heart Disease

Background:  Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is increasingly recognized as a potential risk factor for ischemic heart disease (IHD), but its role remains underexplored. This study investigated the association between OSA and IHD using a case-control design.

Objectives:  The objective of this study was to establish OSA as a risk factor for developing IHD.

Methods:  A total of 122 participants were recruited and categorized into two groups: patients with a recent history of IHD (< 7 days) (wIHD group, n = 61) and controls without IHD but with hypertension (cIHD group, n = 61). The STOP-Bang questionnaire was used to assess OSA risk, and statistical analyses, including odds ratio (OR), relative risk (RR), and attributable risk (AR), were performed. A significance level of 0.05 was adopted for all statistical analyses.

Results:  Patients in the wIHD group had significantly higher STOP-Bang scores than the control group (p < 0.01), with an AR of 71.929% and an OR of 40.078. Body mass index showed a significant positive correlation with OSA risk (p = 0.0016, r = 0.396). The OR/RR was calculated at 11.25 (> 1). The level of statistical significance was found to be 0.05.

Conclusion:  This study identifies OSA as an important risk factor for IHD, supporting the need for routine OSA screening in cardiovascular risk assessment. Larger studies are needed to further explore this relationship

Keywords:
Myocardial Ischemia; Obstructive Sleep Apnea; Case-Control Studies; Risk Factors