Abstract
Scarce evidence suggests that ambient air pollution and temperature might play a role in incidence and severity of sleep disordered breathing (SDB). We investigated the association of short-term exposure to fine particulate matter (particles with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 μm (PM10)), ozone and temperature with SDB in the general population.
Between 2006 and 2008, 1773 participants (aged 50–80 years) of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall study underwent screening for SDB, as defined by the apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI). We assessed daily exposure to PM10, ozone, temperature and humidity. We used multiple linear regression to estimate associations of daily PM10, ozone levels and temperature on the day of screening, adjusting for relative humidity, season, age, sex, body mass index, education, smoking habits, alcohol consumption and physical activity.
In the study population, the mean±sd AHI was 11.2±11.4 events·h−1. Over all seasons, an interquartile range increase in temperature (8.6°C) and ozone (39.5 µg·m−3) was associated with a 10.2% (95% CI 1.2–20.0%) and 10.1% (95% CI 2.0–18.9%) increase in AHI, respectively. Associations for temperature were stronger in summer, yielding a 32.4% (95% CI 0.0–75.3%) increase in AHI per 8.6°C (p-value for season–temperature interaction 0.08). We observed that AHI was not associated with PM10.
This study suggests that short-term variations in ozone concentration and temperature are associated with SDB.
Abstract
In middle-aged to elderly subjects SDB is associated with short-term ozone concentration and temperature http://ow.ly/O7lLt
Footnotes
Editorial comment in: Eur Respir J 2015; 46: 1251–1254 [DOI: 10.1183/13993003.01155-2015]
Conflict of interest: None declared.
Support statement: The Heinz Nixdorf Foundation (chairman Martin Nixdorf, past chairman Gerhard Schmidt (deceased)) provided generous support for this study. This study was also supported by the German Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF), which transferred the monitoring of the study to the German Aero-space Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)), Bonn, Germany. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) supported the study (DFG projects ER 155/6-1 and ER 155/6-2). Assessment of psychosocial factors and neighbourhood-level information was funded by the DFG (projects SI 236/8-1, SI 236/9-1, JO 170/8-1 and HO 3314/2-1). Gerhard Weinreich received an internal research grant (IFORES) from the Medical Faculty of the University Duisburg-Essen. Sarstedt AG & Co (Nürnbrecht, Germany) supplied laboratory equipment. ResMed GmbH & Co. KG provided screening devices for sleep disordered breathing and a grant for technical staff. A research grant was received from the ResMed Foundation. This study is also supported by the Kulturstiftung Essen.
- Received December 9, 2014.
- Accepted May 15, 2015.
- Copyright ©ERS 2015