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Menopause increases risk for sleep-disordered breathing
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As women transition from premenopause through postmenopause, the risk for sleep-disordered breathing increases, longitudinal data suggest.
“Our analysis found that the transition from premenopause to postmenopause is associated with increased severity of [sleep-disordered breathing] and that these changes are not entirely explained by chronological aging or by changes in body habitus,” Anna G. Mirer, PhD, MPH, of the medical scientist training program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, and colleagues wrote. “We also found evidence of an exposure-response relationship between progression through menopause and [sleep-disordered breathing], in which mean [apnea-hypopnea index] in perimenopause was in between mean [apnea-hypopnea index] in premenopause or postmenopause.”
Mirer and colleagues analyzed data from 219 women aged 38 to 62 years recruited from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study. Researchers determined participants’ menopause status via daily diaries reporting menstrual flow, hot flashes and use of hormonal medications. Women underwent in-home polysomnography studies every 6 months to measure apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), to indicate the rate of breathing pauses during sleep, for a total of 1,667 sleep studies.
In linear regression analysis, researchers found that compared with women in premenopause, women in perimenopause had a 21% higher AHI (AHI ratio = 1.21; 95% CI, 0.96-1.54); women in postmenopause had a 31% higher AHI (AHI ratio =1.31; 95% CI, 1.02-1.68); women with an undetermined menopausal status had a 41% higher AHI (AHI ratio = 1.41; 95% CI, 1.08-1.82); and increases persisted independent of age and body habitus. Age, BMI and neck and waist girth were also associated with AHI, but these values did not explain the association with menopausal stage, according to researchers.
Each additional year in menopause was associated with a 4% higher AHI (95% CI, 2-6), independent of age and body size.
“Each additional year in menopause was associated with 7% greater odds of having an AHI of 15 or greater, but with a CI that includes 1,” the researchers wrote. “This suggests an exposure-response relationship, that is, that the longer participants had been in menopause, the more severe was their [sleep-disordered breathing] on average.” – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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