Sleep and HEalth in women (SHE)

Most previous research on obstructive sleep apnea has been performed in men and male patients are still overrepresented at sleep clinics. This study started in year 2000 with postal questionnaires to a non-selected female population in Uppsala, Sweden that was responded by 7.051 participants. On a subgroup of 400 women with oversampling of habitual snorers, careful clinical investigations were performed including anthropometric measurements, blood sampling, full-night polysomnography and oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT). Ten years later, in year 2010, all responders were restudied with postal questionnaires. In addition, all participants who underwent full polysomnogrphy at baseline were invited to a new identical investigation. Beside all measurements that were performed at baseline, also a dynamic spirometry and ultrasound investigations of carotid arteries were performed at the follow-up. Data have also been obtained from national registers on causes of death, diseases, drug prescription and occupational accidents. Important results from this cohort are that the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea is very common in a female population with 50% fulfilling the criteria of mild obstructive sleep apnea and as many as 6% have severe sleep apnea. The occurrence of sleep apnea is highly age- and BMI-dependent. Also in an otherwise healthy female population there is an association between sleep apnea during the night an insulin sensitivity, the metabolic syndrome and it’s components, inflammatory parameters as well as fasting levels of Type B natriuretic peptide. Purpose: The purpose of this population-based study is to analyze the prevalence of sleep disordered breathing and other sleep disturbances in women and also to investigate long-term consequences of sleep-disordered breathing.