Objective To investigate the associations between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. Methods Twelve individuals hospitalized in a Brazilian tertiary hospital diagnosed with COVID-19 by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) underwent respiratory polygraphy. Results Polygraphic records identified seven participants without obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) (OSA-) and five with OSA (OSA + ). The OSA+ group presented worse peripheral oxygen saturation (77.6% ± 7.89%) than the OSA- group (84.4% ± 2.57%) ( p = 0.041). Additionally, the OSA+ group showed greater COVID-19 severity (100%) than the OSA- group (28.57%) ( p = 0.013) and required longer oxygen therapy ( p = 0.038), but without difference in the length of hospitalization. The OSA+ group also presented higher rates of platelets ( p = 0.008) and D-dimer (1,443 ± 897) than the OSA- group (648 ± 263 ng/mL) ( p = 0.019). Conclusion Obstructive sleep apnea in individuals hospitalized due to COVID-19 was associated with higher COVID-19 severity, worse peripheral oxygen saturation, longer oxygen therapy time, and higher platelet and D-dimer rates.
Keywords: COVID-19; obstructive sleep apnea; polygraphy; sleep.
Brazilian Sleep Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).