The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome in patients with multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome is the most common respiratory disorder in patients with multiple sclerosis. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the prevalence of OSAHS in MS patients and to analyze their sleep monitoring indicators of patients.

Methods: Online databases such as PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, CNKI, and WanFang were used to review the Chinese and English literature about OSAHS in MS patients in detail. Two researchers analyzed the Quality of included studies based on the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies. The prevalence and sleep monitoring data were analyzed using STATA 11.0 software. Based on the I values, pooled analyses were performed using either random (I > 50%) or fixed-effect models (I ≤ 50%).

Results: Fourteen articles were selected for the final analysis. Our study shows that different diagnosis methods of OSAHS lead to different incidences. When the screening method was PSG, the incidence of OSAHS in MS patients was 36%; when the method was STOP-BANG, the incidence of OSAHS in MS patients was 26%; when the method was Berlin questionnaire, the incidence of OSAHS in MS patients was 30%. We performed subgroup analyses based on race, age, OSAHS severity, and BMI of patients with MS. The results suggested that the incidence of OSAHS was different in different subgroups of MS patients. In addition, we found that patients with MS generally had poorer sleep monitoring indicators.

Conclusion: The current literature shows that the incidence of OSAHS is higher in MS patients. MS may affect the progression of OSAHS.

Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=551500, CRD42024551500.