Obstructive sleep apnea: Is it a biomarker of metabolic health in obesity.

Context: The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases with obesity, and OSA has been linked to increased cardiovascular risk via hypoxemia and sleep disruption.

Objective And Main Outcome Measures: We hypothesized that if OSA contributes to cardio-metabolic risk, then 1) obese individuals with OSA will have more cardio-metabolic disease, and 2) patients with OSA who are non-adherent to CPAP treatment will have a greater incidence of cardio-metabolic abnormalities.

Design Setting And Patients: We prospectively recruited obese patients (n = 83; BMI 49 ± 9 kg/m).