Effects of smoking on sleep architecture and ventilatory parameters including apneas: Results of the Tab-OSA study

BACKGROUND: The interaction between smoking and sleep seems appears to be bidirectional, but few studies evaluated the impact of smoking and its cessation on objective sleep parameters. In this context, this new study aimed to assess the impact of smoking and its cessation on sleep architecture and on ventilatory sleep parameters, particularly the presence of sleep apnea syndrome (apnea-hypopnea index (AHI)≥15). Methods: Patients hospitalized for polysomnographic sleep exploration were compared according to their smoking status: active smokers (AS), former smokers (FS), non-smokers (NoNi). Psychiatric and non-psychiatric co-morbidities and treatment or substance use were taken into account in the analyses. RESULTS: A total of 170 participants were included (N = 37 FS, 39 AS, 86 NoNi). A significant decrease in the mean nocturnal O(2) saturation was observed for FS and AS compared to NoNi. No differences were found regarding AHI. Regarding sleep architecture, we observed a significant decrease in the slow wave sleep duration for AS compared to NoNi, and interestingly not between FS and NoNi. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that current smokers suffer from alterations in both sleep architecture and ventilatory parameters, the later appears to persist even after smoking cessation.