Associations with subclinical systemic atherosclerosis parameters and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) severity
| No OSA (AHI <5 events·h−1) | Mild OSA (AHI 5– <15 events·h−1) | Moderate-to-severe OSA (AHI ≥15 events·h−1) | p-value# | |
| Subjects | 1096 (50.81) | 700 (32.45) | 361 (16.74) | |
| Common carotid artery IMT mm | ||||
| Mean far wall IMT | 0.730±0.083 | 0.741±0.082 | 0.762±0.085 | 0.24 |
| Mean near wall IMT | 0.726±0.082 | 0.745±0.077 | 0.755±0.085 | 0.75 |
| Mean near and far wall IMT | 0.729±0.072 | 0.743±0.069 | 0.759±0.074 | 0.86 |
| PWV | ||||
| Brachial–ankle PWV, right cm·s−1 | 1437.76±234.70 | 1495.38±247.07 | 1569.14±321.18 | 0.05¶,+,§ |
| Brachial–ankle PWV, left cm·s−1 | 1433.40±233.71 | 1487.78±246.73 | 1555.17±288.73 | 0.14 |
| Ankle–brachial index, right | 1.167±0.076 | 1.180±0.066 | 1.182±0.087 | 0.003¶,+ |
| Ankle–brachial index, left | 1.156±0.071 | 1.169±0.064 | 1.167±0.072 | 0.007¶ |
| Agatston score | ||||
| Ascending TAC | 0.0 (0.0–5782.8) | 3.2 (0.0–4955.9) | 50.0 (0.0–20 749.0) | 0.02¶,+,§ |
| Descending TAC | 11.2 (0.0–26 255.3) | 50.9 (0.0–21 430.5) | 108.0 (0.0–55 353.6) | 0.008¶,+,§ |
| TAC | 37.9 (0.0–27 204.0) | 123.6 (0.0–22 167.0) | 265.5 (0.0–59 565.7) | 0.006¶,+,§ |
| CAC | 0.0 (0.0–3039.4) | 0.0 (0.0–1583.4) | 0.0 (0.0–1808.6) | 0.29 |
Data are presented as n (%), mean±sd or median (range), unless otherwise stated. AHI: apnoea–hypopnoea index; IMT: intima–media thickness; PWV: pulse wave velocity; TAC: thoracic aorta calcification; CAC: coronary artery calcification. #: p-values for one-way ANCOVA including age, sex, body mass index, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, how-density lipoprotein cholesterol and pack-years of smoking; ¶: p<0.05 when comparing no OSA to mild OSA by the post hoc Scheffe test; +: p<0.05 when comparing no OSA to moderate-to-severe OSA by the post hoc Scheffe test; §: p<0.05 when comparing mild OSA to moderate-to-severe OSA by the post hoc Scheffe test.