Research

Mixed

In patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), the Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) is not a significant independent predictor of cardiovascular events or all-cause mortality when adjusted for traditional risk factors, whereas specific physiological markers (time spent with oxygen saturation <90%, sleep time, awakenings, periodic leg movements, heart rate, and daytime sleepiness) are significant independent predictors.

If you have OSA, do not rely solely on your AHI score to assess your heart health risk. Ask your provider to evaluate other markers from your sleep study, specifically the time your oxygen levels drop, your heart rate during sleep, and the quality/quantity of your sleep, as these are stronger predictors of long-term cardiovascular events and mortality.

GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
In the fully adjusted model, other than AHI OSA-related variables were significant independent predictors: time spent with oxygen saturation <90%... sleep time... awakenings... periodic leg movements... heart rate... and daytime sleepiness... AHI was no longer a significant predictor.
Tetyana Kendzerska et al. · PLoS Medicine · 2014

Why this rating

Large historical cohort (n=10,149), long follow-up (median 68 months), rigorous statistical adjustment, but observational design limits causal inference.

Source

Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Risk of Cardiovascular Events and All-Cause Mortality: A Decade-Long Historical Cohort Study

Tetyana Kendzerska et al. · PLoS Medicine · 2014

DOI 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001599

cohort · n=10149Cited 420×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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