Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) Statistics

General Obstructive Sleep Apnea Statistics

• 1 out of every 5 (20%) American adults have Sleep Apnea.
  Source: New England Journal of Medicine 2002; 347: 498-504
• 20 million adults have Sleep Apnea, but only a small percentage of them ever seek treatment.
  Source: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• Untreated Obstructed Sleep Apnea causes close to a 500% increase in heart disease, independent of age, weight, blood pressure, and current smoking status.
  Source: Journal of the American Thoracic Society
• In comparing deaths from Cardiac arrests, people with Sleep Apnea are twice as likely to die suddenly of cardiac causes between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., than during the other 16 hours of the day combined.
  Source: New England Journal of Medicine

• People with moderate- to-severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea have more than a 400% greater risk of stroke than those who do not suffer from the condition.
  Source: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
• 17% of new stroke patients develop sleep apnea, and it places them at a significantly higher mortality risk and should be monitored carefully and treated.
  Source: The Journal Stroke

• About 50% of patients with Sleep Apnea have high blood pressure.
  Source: Journal of American Family Physician
• About 50% of patients with high blood pressure have Sleep Apnea.
  Source: Journal of American Family Physician

• 20% of all patients presenting with a diagnosed depressive syndrome may also have Sleep Apnea, and vice versa.
  Source: Annals of General Psychiatry 2005, 4:13

• 50% of people with Sleep Apnea also have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder.)
  Source: Marlborough Center for Sleep Disorders in Massachusetts

• 50% the men who suffer from severe untreated Sleep Apnea also secrete abnormally low levels of testosterone throughout the night, resulting in decreased libido and sexual activity. Patients who are treated for their sleep apnea may see an improvement their sex lives.
  Source: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year. This results in an estimated 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses. These figures may be the tip of the iceberg, since currently it is difficult to attribute crashes to sleepiness.
  Source: National Sleep Foundation
• People suffering from Sleep Apnea are 600% more likely to be involved in a car crash (as a result of drowsiness) than those without sleep disorders.
  Source: New England Journal of Medicine

• British researchers are probing the link between snoring, Sleep Apnea and low birth weight. They believe that birth weight, premature birth, and fetal death may be a result of the low oxygen saturation rate in pregnant mothers with sleep apnea.
  Source: City Hospital, London, UK