Gout and the Risk of Incident Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Adults 65 Years or Older: An Observational Study

Study objectives: To assess whether gout is associated with a higher risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in older adults.

Methods: We used the 5% United States Medicare beneficiary sample from 2006-2012 to assess whether gout was independently associated with new diagnosis of OSA in adults 65 years or older, adjusting for demographics, medical comorbidity (Charlson-Romano index) and hypertension, hyperlipidemia and coronary artery disease, and the use of medications for cardiovascular diseases or gout (allopurinol, febuxostat).

Results: Based on 10,448,472 person-years of follow-up in a cohort of 1.74 million adults 65 years or older, the crude incidence rates of OSA were 14.3 per 1,000 person-years in people with gout and 3.9 per 1,000 person-years in people without gout. In multivariable-adjusted analyses, gout was associated with higher risk of a new diagnosis of OSA during the follow-up, hazard ratio was 2.07 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.00, 2.15). In sensitivity analyses that substituted continuous Charlson-Romano score with a categorical variable or individual Charlson-Romano comorbidities plus hypertension, hyperlipidemia and coronary artery disease, the main finding was confirmed, hazard ratios were 2.11 (95% CI 2.03, 2.18) and 1.79 (95% CI 1.73, 1.85).

Conclusions: The independent association of gout with a twofold higher risk of OSA in older adults indicates that common mechanisms may be shared by the two conditions. More studies are needed to investigate these mechanisms further.