Revisiting Asthma Obstructive Sleep Apnea Overlap: Current Knowledge and Future Needs

Authors

Damini Saxena
Ikuyo Imayama
Muhammad Adrish

Publication Date

10-16-2023

Journal

Journal of Clinical Medicine

DOI

10.3390/jcm12206552

PMID

37892689

PMCID

PMC10607310

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

10-16-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

asthma, obstructive sleep apnea, overlap

Abstract

Asthma and obstructive sleep apnea are highly prevalent conditions with a high cost burden. In addition to shared risk factors, existing data suggest a bidirectional relationship between asthma and OSA, where each condition can impact the other. Patients with asthma often complain of sleep fragmentation, nocturnal asthma symptoms, daytime sleepiness, and snoring. The prevalence of OSA increases with asthma severity, as evidenced by multiple large studies. Asthma may lower the threshold for arousal in OSA, resulting in the hypopnea with arousal phenotype. Epidemiologic studies in adults have shown that OSA is associated with worse asthma severity, increased frequency of exacerbation, and poor quality of life. The current literature assessing the relationship among OSA, asthma, and CPAP therapy is heavily dependent on observational studies. There is a need for randomized controlled trials to minimize the interference of confounding shared risk factors.

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