Associations of Alcohol Consumption and Chronic Diseases With Sleep Apnea Among US Adults

BACKGROUND: Sleep apnea (SA) is a common sleep disorder among US adults. Associations of SA with alcohol consumption and some chronic diseases have been inconsistent. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to estimate prevalence of SA and examine its associations with potential factors including alcohol consumption, asthma, diabetes, and hypertension. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study on 823 adults with SA and 38,638 controls from the 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Data. Weighted univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine the associations of SA with the potential factors. RESULTS: The prevalence of SA was higher in males (4.01%) than in females (2.61%), while the prevalence increased with age (0.86%, 3.50%, and 4.47% for age groups of 18-25, 26-64, and ≥ 65, respectively). Univariate analysis revealed that all factors except for income and education were associated with SA (P < 0.05). In multivariable analyses, participants who were current and past alcohol consumers had significantly higher odds of having SA (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.03-2.23; OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.09-2.49, respectively) than non-alcohol drinker. Furthermore, asthma (OR = 2.77, 95% CI = 2.04-3.75), diabetes (OR = 2.89, 95% CI = 2.19-3.83), and hypertension (OR = 2.42, 95% CI = 1.91-3.07) were significantly associated with SA. CONCLUSIONS: Age, alcohol consumption, asthma, diabetes, and hypertension, were positively associated with SA. More efforts should be directed to promoting screening for SA and finding possible treatments for SA among these vulnerable groups.