Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy and Presumed Sleep Apnea Syndrome Screened by the Sleep Apnea Scale of the Sleep Disorders Questionnaire (SA-SDQ)

¹ University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mcgwin{at}uab.edu.

Accepted 1 May 2007

	Abstract

Background: Two recent studies reported over 70% of the patients with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) had sleep apnea 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 behaviors, 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 1.03-6.60) when adjusted for medical and health behavior 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.

Keywords: case-control, epidemiology, nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, sleep apnea

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Br. J. Ophthalmol. 2007 91: 1. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]