SLEEP-DISORDERED BREATHING IN ALCOHOLICS - ASSOCIATION WITH AGE

Sleep apnea and related disorders are not uncommon in abstinent alcoho lics. We assessed the relationship between age and the presence and se verity of sleep disordered breathing in alcoholism by performing one n ight of polysomnography on 75 abstinent alcoholic subjects undergoing treatment for alcoholism. Sleep-disordered breathing (defined as 10 or more apneas plus hypopneas/hr of sleep) was present in 19% of 66 men aged 22-76 and in 0 of 9 women aged 28-63 years. Three percent of men under age 40 years had sleep-disordered breathing compared with 25% of men between ages 40-59 and 75% of those above age 60. Although alcoho lics with sleep disordered breathing had a higher body mass index than those without, the increased frequency over age 40 was statistically significant after controlling far the effects of body mass index. Slee p in subjects with sleep-disordered breathing was significantly more d isturbed than in subjects without steep-disordered breathing. Our find ings suggest that sleep-disordered breathing in older male alcoholics is more prevalent than has been reported in most studies of normal men and that the increase in sleep-disordered breathing that occurs with age in alcoholics is greater than the age-related increase in sleep di sordered breathing that occurs in healthy elderly men. Furthermore, sl eep-disordered breathing is a significant contributer to sleep disturb ance in a substantial proportion of male alcoholics above the age of 4 0 years. Sleep-disordered breathing, when combined with existing cardi ovascular risk factors and alcohol use, may contribute to the increase d risk of stroke and mortality that occurs in alcohol users. Although none of the women alcoholics in this study had sleep disordered breath ing, a reliable estimate of the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathi ng in women alcoholics will require additional studies.