Impact of self-reported symptoms of allergic rhinitis and asthma on sleep disordered breathing and sleep disturbances in the elderly with polysomnography study.

Background: Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and sleep disturbances have been reported to be associated with allergic rhinitis and asthma. However, population-based studies of this issue in the elderly are rare.

Objective: To investigate the impact of self-reported rhinitis and asthma on sleep apnea and sleep quality using polysomnography in an elderly Korean population.

Methods: A total of 348 elderly subjects who underwent one-night polysomnography study among a randomly selected sample were enrolled. Study subjects underwent anthropometric and clinical evaluations. Simultaneously, the prevalence and co-morbid status of asthma and allergic rhinitis, and subjective sleep quality were evaluated using a self-reported questionnaire.

Results: Ever-diagnosis of allergic rhinitis was significantly more prevalent in subjects with SDB compared with those without SDB. Subjects with an ever-diagnosis of allergic rhinitis showed a higher O2 desaturation index and mean apnea duration. Indices regarding sleep efficiency were affected in subjects with a recent treatment of allergic rhinitis or asthma. Waking after sleep onset was longer and sleep efficiency was lower in subjects who had received allergic rhinitis treatment within the past 12 months. Subjects who had received asthma treatment within the past 12 months showed significantly lower sleep efficiency than others.

Conclusion: Our study indicates that a history of allergic rhinitis is associated with increased risk of SDB in the elderly. Sleep disturbance and impaired sleep efficiency were found in the subjects who had received recent treatment of allergic rhinitis or asthma. Physicians should be aware of the high risk of sleep disorders in older patients with respiratory allergic diseases.