TY - JOUR T1 - Sleep apnoea is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 JF - BMJ Open Respiratory Research JO - BMJ Open Resp Res DO - 10.1136/bmjresp-2020-000845 VL - 8 IS - 1 SP - e000845 AU - Satu Strausz AU - Tuomo Kiiskinen AU - Martin Broberg AU - Sanni Ruotsalainen AU - Jukka Koskela AU - Adel Bachour AU - FinnGen AU - Aarno Palotie AU - Tuula Palotie AU - Samuli Ripatti AU - Hanna M. Ollila Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://bmjopenrespres.bmj.com/content/8/1/e000845.abstract N2 - Background Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is associated with higher body mass index (BMI), diabetes, older age and male gender, which are all risk factors for severe COVID-19.We aimed to study if OSA is an independent risk factor for COVID-19 infection or for severe COVID-19.Methods OSA diagnosis and COVID-19 infection were extracted from the hospital discharge, causes of death and infectious diseases registries in individuals who participated in the FinnGen study (n=260 405). Severe COVID-19 was defined as COVID-19 requiring hospitalisation. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to examine association. Comorbidities for either COVID-19 or OSA were selected as covariates. We performed a meta-analysis with previous studies.Results We identified 445 individuals with COVID-19, and 38 (8.5%) of them with OSA of whom 19 out of 91 (20.9%) were hospitalised. OSA associated with COVID-19 hospitalisation independent from age, sex, BMI and comorbidities (p-unadjusted=5.13×10−5, OR-adjusted=2.93 (95% CI 1.02 to 8.39), p-adjusted=0.045). OSA was not associated with the risk of contracting COVID-19 (p=0.25). A meta-analysis of OSA and severe COVID-19 showed association across 15 835 COVID-19 positive controls, and n=1294 patients with OSA with severe COVID-19 (OR=2.37 (95% 1.14 to 4.95), p=0.021).Conclusion Risk for contracting COVID-19 was the same for patients with OSA and those without OSA. In contrast, among COVID-19 positive patients, OSA was associated with higher risk for hospitalisation. Our findings are in line with earlier works and suggest OSA as an independent risk factor for severe COVID-19.Data are available upon reasonable request. The FinnGen individual level data may be accessed through applications to the Finnish Biobanks’ FinnBB portal, Fingenious (www.finbb.fi). Summary data can be accessed through the FinnGen site https://www.finngen.fi/en/access_results. ER -