Associations of Depression, Anxiety, and Life Events With the Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Evaluated by Berlin Questionnaire

Xueru Duan; Murui Zheng; Wenjing Zhao; Jun Huang; Lixian Lao; Haiyi Li; Jiahai Lu; Weiqing Chen; Xudong Liu; Hai Deng

doi:10.3389/fmed.2022.799792

Associations of Depression, Anxiety, and Life Events With the Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Evaluated by Berlin Questionnaire

Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Apr 7:9:799792. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.799792. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xueru Duan^{1

2}, Murui Zheng³, Wenjing Zhao⁴, Jun Huang⁵, Lixian Lao⁶, Haiyi Li¹, Jiahai Lu¹, Weiqing Chen¹, Xudong Liu², Hai Deng⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
² School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China.
³ Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ School of Public Health and Emergency Management, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
⁵ Department of Geriatrics, Institute of Geriatrics, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Science, Guangzhou, China.
⁶ Department of Cardiology, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Science, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: Psychological problems are prevalent in the general population, and their impacts on sleep health deserve more attention. This study was to examine the associations of OSA risk with depression, anxiety, and life events in a Chinese population.

Methods: A total of 10,287 subjects were selected from the Guangzhou Heart Study. Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) was used to ascertain the OSA. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and Zung's self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) were used to define depression and anxiety. A self-designed questionnaire was used to assess life events. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was calculated by using the logistic regression model.

Results: There were 1,366 subjects (13.28%) classified into the OSA group. After adjusting for potential confounders, subjects with anxiety (OR: 2.60, 95% CI: 1.63-4.04) and depression (OR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.19-2.97) were more likely to have OSA. Subjects suffering from both anxiety and depression were associated with a 3.52-fold (95% CI: 1.88-6.31) risk of OSA. Every 1-unit increment of CES-D score and SAS index score was associated with 13% (95% CI: 1.11-1.15) and 4% (95% CI: 1.03-1.06) increased risk of OSA. Neither positive life events nor adverse life events were associated with OSA.

Conclusions: The results indicate that depression and anxiety, especially co-occurrence of both greatly, were associated with an increased risk of OSA. Neither adverse life events nor positive life events were associated with any risk of OSA. Screening for interventions to prevent and manage OSA should pay more attention to depression and anxiety.

Keywords: adverse life events; anxiety; depression; obstructive sleep apnea; positive life events.