Research

Mixed

OSAS is associated with an increased risk of stroke, with severity of sleep-disordered breathing correlating with stroke risk, and CPAP treatment may improve survival in stroke patients with OSAS.

If you have sleep apnoea, especially with a high apnoea-hypopnoea index, your risk of stroke is significantly higher. Treating OSAS with CPAP, particularly after a stroke, can improve your long-term survival.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Prospective data from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort clearly indicate that an AHI >20 was associated with a four-fold increase in the risk of stroke during a 4-yr follow-up study... OSAS could worsen prognosis after a stroke episode, as suggested by the high mortality of patients with an AHI >30 after stroke, and the improvement in 18-month survival of those OSAS patients (AHI <20) who were able to tolerate CPAP treatment after stroke.
Walter T. McNicholas et al. · European Respiratory Journal · 2006

Why this rating

Supported by prospective cohort studies (Wisconsin, Caerphilly) and observational data, though some uncertainties remain regarding the exact temporal relationship and independent association with transient ischaemic attacks.

Source

Sleep apnoea as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease: current evidence, basic mechanisms and research priorities: Fig. 1—

Walter T. McNicholas et al. · European Respiratory Journal · 2006

DOI 10.1183/09031936.00027406

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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