Association between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Dose-Response Meta-Analysis

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We screened four databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochran Library, and CNKI) for the observational studies about the OSA and T2DM. Studies were collected from database establishment to October 2020. We performed a traditional subgroup meta-analysis. What is more, linear and spline dose-response models were applied to assess the association between apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), an indicator to evaluate the severity of OSA, and the risk of T2DM. Review Manager, version 5.3, software and Stata 16.0 were used for the analysis. RESULT: Seven observational studies were included in the research. We excluded a study in the conventional meta-analysis. In the subgroup analysis, mild-dose AHI increased the risk of T2DM (odds ratio = 1.23, 95% confidence interval = 1.06–1.41, P < 0.05). Moderate-dose AHI increased the risk of T2DM with a higher odds ratio (OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.13–1.61, P < 0.05). Moderate-to-severe-dose AHI increased the risk of T2DM with a higher odds ratio (OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.72–2.67, P < 0.05). Severe-dose AHI increased the risk of T2DM with a higher odds ratio (OR = 2.19 95% CI = 1.30–3.68, P < 0.05). Furthermore, the spline and linear dose-response meta-analysis results revealed that the risk of T2DM increased with increasing AHI values. CONCLUSION: Through the dose-response meta-analysis, we found a potential dose-response relationship existed between the severity of OSA and the risk of T2DM. This relationship in our passage should be considered in the prevention of T2DM in the future.