Patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis are at increased risk for obstructive sleep apnoea: a population-based cohort study.

Background And Objectives: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), an autoimmune disease, has been proposed to be comorbid with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). We aimed at testing the hypothesis that patients with JIA may presented with high risk of OSA in a cohort study.

Subjects And Methods: This is a cohort study including patients with JIA from 1999 to 2013 identified from a longitudinal health registry. A matched non-JIA control group was also included. The primary outcome variable was presence of OSA. A Cox proportional hazard model was developed to estimate the risk of OSA in patients with JIA. A cumulative probability model was adopted to assess the time-dependent effect of JIA on OSA development, implying a causal link of the association.

Results: A total of 2791 patients with JIA were included, and 11 164 individuals without JIA were selected as matched controls. A total of 95 included subjects had OSA: 31 in the JIA group and 64 in the control group. Patients with JIA were more likely to have OSA compared with controls (adjusted hazard ratio, aHR = 1.922, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.244-2.970). The incidence of developing OSA was particularly high among patients with JIA-associated deformity that presented at age 18-30 years (aHR = 1.993, 95% CI = 1.277-3.113) and males (aHR = 1.786, 95% CI = 1.097-2.906). The risk of developing OSA increased over 60 months (aHR = 2.523, 95% CI = 1.322-4.815) of follow-up after the JIA diagnosis.

Conclusions: Patients with JIA have a significantly increased risk of developing OSA compared with matched individuals without JIA.