According to a MedPage Today news report, individuals with sleep apnea have a greater rate of on-the-job injuries when compared to employees without sleep-related breathing disorders.
In the univariate analysis, people with obstructive sleep apnea were nearly twice as likely to be hurt on the job [OR 1.929 (95% CI 1.062-3.504, P=0.031)] than co-workers who did not have sleep apnea, said A.J. Hirsch Allen, PhD, a research associate at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
At the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, Hirsch Allen said that a trend for excess injuries in the sleep apnea workers (P=0.075) persisted when multivariate confounders — sex, body mass index, alcohol use and/or work in a blue-collar industry — were factored into the equation.
“Screening and treatment of workers with obstructive sleep apnea may reduce rates of injury,” Hirsch Allen told MedPage Today at his poster presentation.
