EXTENDED REPORT

Non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy and presumed sleep apnoea syndrome screened by the Sleep Apnea scale of the Sleep Disorders Questionnaire (SA-SDQ)

Jian Li¹, Gerald McGwin Jr^1,2, Michael S Vaphiades² and Cynthia Owsley²

¹ Department of Epidemiology and International Health, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
² Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama

Correspondence to:
Gerald McGwin, Jr, Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 700 S. 18th Street, Suite 609, Birmingham, AL 35294-0009, USA; mcgwin{at}uab.edu

Background: Two recent studies reported over 70% of the patients with non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION) had sleep apnoea syndrome (SAS) diagnosed by overnight polysomnography. The current study used the Sleep Apnea scale of the Sleep Disorders Questionnaire (SA-SDQ) to evaluate this association.

Methods: A matched case-control study was conducted among 73 cases of NAION matched on age and gender to 73 controls without a history of NAION. Information regarding demographics, medical conditions, health behaviours and SAS was obtained via a telephone questionnaire that included the SA-SDQ. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and the 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between NAION and the SA-SDQ.

Results: Cases were significantly more likely to report symptoms and characteristics consistent with SAS than controls (OR 2.62; 95% CI 1.03 to 6.60) when adjusted for medical and health behaviour characteristics.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that patients with SAS are at increased risk of NAION. Additional research in a larger population is needed to confirm the observed results and validate the use of the SA-SDQ in patients with NAION.

Abbreviations: COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, NAION, non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy; SAS, sleep apnoea syndrome; SA-SDQ, Sleep Apnea scale of the Sleep Disorders Questionnaire

Competing interests: None declared.

Funding: This research was supported by National Institute on Aging Grant R01-AG04212, National Eye Institute Grant R21-EY14071, Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc., and the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama. CO is a Research to Prevent Blindness Senior Scientific Investigator.

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