More Black Men Have Died As A Result Of Sleep Apnea Than Whites Or Black Women
Highlights:
- OSA mortality was higher in men than women, Blacks than Whites, and in the Midwest.
- Black men had a continuous OSA mortality increase over the last decade.
- Blacks with OSA were more likely to have obesity and cardiovascular disease.
According to a University of Buffalo peer-reviewed study, during the last two decades, more Black men have died from obstructive sleep apnea than White persons or Black females. They are the only group whose death rate from sleep apnea has continued to climb over the last two decades.
For the first time, the study finds a significant racial health difference in sleep apnea death.
“Despite several epidemiologic studies focusing on the prevalence, risk factors and clinical presentations of sleep apnea, no study, to our knowledge, has evaluated the disparity of sleep apnea-related mortality among different racial groups,” says Yu-Che Lee, first author and a medical resident in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB who sees patients through the Catholic Health System.
“As a result, we proposed doing a study comparing the differences in sleep apnea-related death and mortality trends between Black and White Americans from 1999 to 2019.”
During that time, the overall age-adjusted mortality rates for all people, Blacks, and Whites were 2.5, 3.5, and 2.4 per 1,000,000 people, respectively. Black sleep apnea patients of both genders were more likely to have numerous causes of death, including Cardiac Arrest, High Blood Pressure, Obesity, and Chronic Renal Failure, whereas Whites were more likely to have Arrhythmia.
The researchers evaluated sleep apnea-related mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics, which was given by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 1999 to 2019.
Sleep apnea is the most frequent sleep-related breathing problem, and it has been linked to the development of systemic hypertension, cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and glucose metabolic disorders.
From 1999 to 2008, Lee and his colleagues discovered a consistent increase in mortality, but then the rates stabilized for Black females and White males and girls. This flattening shows that medical management and public health efforts have contributed to the stabilization of outcomes in these populations.
For the entire 21-year study period, black males were the only group to have a constant increase in death from sleep apnea.
Read the original article on UBNow
