Higher rate of sleep disturbances found in patients with cardiac, neurological conditions

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than 50% of patients who came to an academic health care center with cardiac or neurological conditions also were found to have sleep apnea or other sleep disturbances, according to a study presented at SLEEP 2022.

Anecdotally, these conditions are known to appear concomitantly, according to study authors.

“Our goal was to characterize the prevalence of sleep disturbances in a unique patient population from the Rush Heart Center for Women,” co-author Namni Goel, PhD, professor and director for adult chronobiology research at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said.

Goel, who also directs adult chronobiology and sleep medicine at the university’s biological rhythms research laboratory, explained in her presentation that patients were referred to Rush by their primary care physician or cardiologist; a neurologist was added to their care team if deemed necessary.

Researchers conducted a retrospective electronic chart review of patient data based on various biomarkers, cardiac testing and neurologic testing, and characterized patients by prevalent disease.

Cardiac conditions included coronary artery disease, ischemic and nonischemic heart disease, heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias, and neurologic conditions included Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, dementia and vascular etiology.

Researchers also identified patients who met the criteria for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) or for whom a sleep study was ordered, Goel said.

Of 103 patients included in the study (average age, 69 years; average BMI, 29), 53 patients had only cardiac conditions, six had only neurologic and 44 patients (43%) had both. Seventy-eight were women, and 79 were white.

According to results, nearly 52% of patients with cardiac and/or neurologic conditions also presented with OSA or sleep disturbance symptoms — a higher rate than observed in the general population.

“BMI appears to be a differentiating feature indicating sleep dysfunction,” Goel said, adding that future interventions should address reducing BMI.

“The prevalence of this trifecta of disease — cardiac, neurological and sleep apnea/sleep disturbances — demonstrates the criticality of considering the interplay between these various domains when administering clinical care to patients,” Goel concluded.