Boost Your Odds: Embrace Optimal and Intermediate Lifestyles to Combat OSA!

Essential points:

• Six elements constituted an individual’s healthy lifestyle score.
• The chances for OSA decreased by 33% for each one-point increase in the healthy lifestyle score.

The risk of obstructive sleep apnea diminished by 74% among individuals with optimal as compared to inadequate healthy lifestyle habits, based on findings published in BMC Pulmonary Medicine.

“Our investigation indicated that embracing a mix of healthy lifestyle choices — high dietary standards, consistent physical activity, sufficient sleep, avoidance of smoking, moderate or lesser alcohol intake, and sustaining a healthy weight — was negatively associated with a lower probability of OSA,” Jinsong Mou, a researcher at Shenzhen Pingshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital in China, and colleagues stated.

Utilizing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected between 2005-2008 and 2015-2018, Mou and colleagues assessed 6,406 adults aged 40 years and above (mean age, 58 years; 51.11% male; 76.43% Caucasian) to analyze how healthy lifestyle — scored based on “dietary quality, physical activity, sleep duration, alcohol consumption, smoking status, and BMI” — correlates with the likelihood of OSA.

In the entire cohort, more than half (56.82%; 63.09% aged 40-59 years; 54.41% male; 76.42% Caucasian) of adults obtained a composite healthy lifestyle score of 3 to 4 out of 6 points, indicating a moderate healthy lifestyle. Meanwhile, 25.37% (62.96% aged 40-59 years; 40.27% male; 79.15% Caucasian) achieved a score of 5 to 6, signaling an optimal healthy lifestyle, and 17.81% (75.25% aged 40-59 years; 55.67% male; 72.37% Caucasian) had a score of 0 to 2, indicating an inadequate healthy lifestyle.

In a model adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical variables, researchers identified a significant correlation between two out of the six healthy lifestyle factors and reduced odds for OSA: higher dietary quality (adjusted OR = 0.81; 95% CI, 0.66-0.99) and adequate weight (aOR = 0.09; 95% CI, 0.07-0.11).

Importantly, the probability of OSA decreased by 33% (aOR = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.63-0.71) with each one-point rise in the healthy lifestyle score, as indicated by the research.

Researchers also highlighted that “greater compliance with a healthy lifestyle” significantly correlated with a lower chance of OSA.

The likelihood of OSA decreased by 74% (aOR = 0.26; 95% CI, 0.21-0.33) for those with an optimal versus inadequate lifestyle. Additionally, the probability of OSA also diminished with a moderate versus inadequate lifestyle, though to a lesser extent (27%; aOR = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.58-0.91), as per the study.

During mediation analysis, researchers found that 59.2% of the total impact concerning the healthy lifestyle score and OSA association was mediated by BMI. Despite this observation, the findings revealed that controlling for BMI still led to a notable direct impact of the healthy lifestyle score on OSA.

When categorized by various demographics — age, gender, ethnicity, education, family income to poverty ratio, marital status, and family size — results from the primary analysis remained consistent, showing a reduced chance for OSA among individuals with an optimal compared to an inadequate healthy lifestyle, as well as among those with a moderate compared to inadequate lifestyle in all groups except for the Hispanic and Mexican American ethnicities.

“These results underscore the necessity of advocating for healthy lifestyle modifications to prevent and manage OSA, indicating that public health initiatives should focus on these changeable factors,” Mou and colleagues commented.

“Further research should aim at clarifying the underlying mechanisms that drive these relationships, alongside evaluating the efficacy of targeted lifestyle interventions across diverse populations,” they added.

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