Research
Mixed
Obesity and advanced age are the primary drivers of the increasing global prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
Maintaining a healthy weight and managing age-related changes are key to preventing OSA. If you are overweight or older, be aware of the increased risk and seek screening if you have symptoms like snoring or daytime sleepiness.
StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
The increase in prevalence is driven by the global increase in obesity, the major risk factor for OSA... A second major risk factor for OSA is advanced age. As the prevalence of the ageing population and obesity increases, the vulnerability towards having OSA increases.
Why this rating
Based on large-scale epidemiological data and WHO statistics on obesity and aging trends.
Source
Global burden of sleep‐disordered breathing and its implications
M. Melanie Lyons et al. · Respirology · 2020
DOI 10.1111/resp.13838
narrative_reviewCited 404×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) imposes a massive global economic burden, with undiagnosed cases in the US alone costing an estimated $149.6 billion annually due to lost productivity, comorbidities, and accidents.Good
- Positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy is more effective than no treatment in improving apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), Epworth Sleepiness Score (ESS), and disease-specific quality of life, and is cost-effective from a societal perspective.Good
Related findings · Mixed
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