Research
Adherence
Symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (snoring, snorting, breathing cessation) and a derived OSA score of 2-3 are significantly associated with increased odds of acute stroke, independent of a formal OSA diagnosis.
If you or your partner notice loud snoring, gasping, or pauses in breathing during sleep, seek medical evaluation. These symptoms are strongly linked to stroke risk, even if you haven't been diagnosed with sleep apnea. Addressing these symptoms may reduce stroke risk.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Self-reported snoring (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.62–2.24), snorting (OR 2.64, 95% CI 2.17–3.20), and breathing cessation (OR 2.87, 95% CI 2.28–3.60) were associated with statistically significant increased odds of all stroke in the primary model... An OSA score of 2–3 was associated with a significantly increased odds of all stroke (OR 2.67, 95% CI 2.25–3.15)... maintaining significance with subsequent adjustment.
Why this rating
Large international study, robust adjustment, but relies on self-reported symptoms rather than polysomnography.
Source
Sleep Patterns and the Risk of Acute Stroke
Christine E. Mc Carthy et al. · Neurology · 2023
DOI 10.1212/wnl.0000000000207249
case_control · n=4496Cited 62×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Short sleep duration (<5 hours) and long sleep duration (>9 hours) are independently associated with a significantly increased risk of acute stroke, exhibiting a U-shaped relationship where short sleep shows a higher magnitude of association on univariate analysis but attenuates more than long sleep after adjusting for comorbidities.Good
- A higher cumulative burden of sleep disturbance symptoms (Sleep Disturbance Symptom Burden >5) is associated with a graded, significantly increased risk of acute stroke, with the highest burden showing an OR of 5.38.Good
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