Age at diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea and subsequent risk of dementia.

BACKGROUND

Epidemiological evidence regarding the association between Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) onset age and risk of incident dementia remains unexplored. The study sought to examine whether younger onset age of OSA is associated with a higher risk of incident dementia.

METHODS

This cohort study, based on the UK Biobank's prospective population data, excluded 445,023 participants due to baseline dementia diagnoses, incomplete covariate information, or pre-OSA onset dementia over a 12.6-year median follow-up. The research applied Cox regression and propensity score matching to explore the relationship between sleep apnea onset age and later development of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's, and vascular dementia.

RESULTS

In a controlled study contrasting those without obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), those suffering from OSA showed markedly higher risks for developing all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD), and vascular dementia (VD), with hazard ratios (HR) of 4.243 (95% CI: 3.678-4.897), 5.668 (95% CI: 4.380-7.336), and 6.064 (95% CI: 4.008-9.175) respectively. Following adjustment with propensity score matching, OSA patients younger than 52 presented the highest risk of all-cause dementia, with an adjusted HR of 2.256 (95% CI: 1.901-3.747). This trend was consistent for early-onset AD and VD in the same age group.

CONCLUSION

Younger age at OSA onset was associated with increased risk of dementia. Individuals with an onset age of OSA before 52 years of age may represent a particularly vulnerable population for dementia irrespective of subtypes and need careful monitoring and timely intervention to attenuate subsequent risk of incident dementia.