Comparison of hospitalized patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and obstructive sleep apnea outpatients in terms of general characteristics and polysomnographic features

Abstract

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a significant comorbidity in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This study aimed to evaluate the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with and without IPF, and their polysomnographic features according to the presence and severity of OSA. Methods: A total of 52 cases (29 patients hospitalized for IPF and 23 controls without IPF) admitted to the sleep laboratory with suspicion of OSA were included. Demographic, clinical data and results of polysomnographic studies were recorded from the patients’ self-reports and hospital records. Results: The distribution of sex was similar (p=0.775) between the patient and control groups; however, the patients with IPF were older than the controls (68 vs. 57 years, p=0.003). The rate of current smokers was higher among the controls (p=0.003), whereas dyspnea (p<0.001), headache (p=0.005), congestive heart failure (p=0.013), pulmonary hypertension (p<0.001), number of previous hospitalizations (p<0.001), and dust exposure (p=0.028) were more frequent in the IPF group. The median sleep time with O2 saturation below 90% was significantly higher in the IPF group (p<0.001). Among overall study population, 40 patients had OSA of whom 10 had mild, 15 had moderate, and 15 had severe OSA. Conclusions: The co-existence of IPF significantly worsened the polysomnographic features of the patients with OSA. Further studies are needed to clarify the underlying mechanisms and to determine the optimal interventions to increase sleep quality of IPF patients.

Keywords

• Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
• obstructive sleep apnea
• severity
• hospitalization
• polysomnography

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