As the breathing disorder worsened, the odds for developing depression increased.
A possible association between depression and sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD) — a broad term that includes sleep apnea and hypopnea — has not been studied fully. Wisconsin researchers assessed whether risk for depression rises with increasing severity of SRBD.
Participants, who were drawn randomly from people enrolled in an ongoing sleep study, were classified in one of four SRBD categories, based on number of hypopneic or apneic events they experienced: none, minimal, mild, or moderate-or-worse. Participants who scored high on a self-reported 20-item depression survey and those who took antidepressants were considered to be depressed. Of 1408 participants, 959 underwent at least two sleep studies during 4 years in the ongoing trial and were included in a longitudinal analysis.
At baseline, subjects with moderate-or-worse SRBD were more likely than subjects without SRBD to be depressed (women, 34% vs. 19%; men, 19% vs. 8%). During 4 years, 109 subjects without depression at baseline progressed to more severe levels of SRBD; those whose SRBD worsened were more likely to develop depression than those whose SRBD did not worsen.
Comment: These results document higher levels of depression among people with sleep-related breathing disorder than among those without SRBD. They also show that, among people without depression at baseline, increases in SRBD severity lead to increased risk for depression.
— Jamaluddin Moloo, MD, MPH
Published in Journal Watch October 3, 2006
Citation(s):
Peppard PE et al. Longitudinal association of sleep-related breathing disorder and depression. Arch Intern Med 2006 Sep 18; 166:1709-15.