Association of abnormal glucose tolerance with self-reported sleep apnea among a 57-year-old urban population in Northern Finland.

Aims: We examined the associations between glucose tolerance and sleep apnea in a 57-year-old unselected urban population in Northern Finland, taking into account some determinants of sleep apnea.

Methods: A population-based health survey was conducted in a population of 555 women and 438 men born in 1945 and living in the city of Oulu in 2001. Glucose status was determined with a standard 2-h oral glucose tolerance test. Sleeping disorders were recorded on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and a questionnaire including 5 questions about sleeping and snoring. The Zung Self-rated Depression Scale (ZSDS) was used to assess depressive symptoms. Logistic regression was used in the estimation of odds ratios (OR) for the associations of sleep apnea with the covariates.

Results: Sleep apnea was found to be associated with type 2 diabetes (OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.20-5.47) and newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes (OR 2.42 95% CI 1.01-5.82), but the estimated association with impaired glucose regulation (IGR) was coupled with a wide margin of error (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.43-1.93) when adjusted for the following covariates: gender, current smoking, hypertension, hs-CRP, physical activity, waist circumference, and Zung depression scale.

Conclusions: There seems to be a positive association between sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes, and even with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, but we could not establish an association with IGR.