Poor Sleep Quality Linked to Risk for Exacerbation in COPD

WEDNESDAY, June 8, 2022 (HealthDay News) — For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), poor sleep quality may contribute to exacerbations, according to a study published online June 6 in SLEEP.

Aaron Baugh, M.D., from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues examined the incidence rate ratios for COPD exacerbation using zero-inflated negative binomial regression adjusted for confounding variables among 1,647 current and former smokers with spirometrically confirmed COPD from the SPIROMICS cohort.

The researchers found that after adjustment for all confounding variables, increasing Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores were associated with an increased risk for exacerbation (5 percent increased risk per point) in the imputed dataset. Using complete cases and after controlling for history of prior exacerbation, the findings were similar in sensitivity analyses. In an exploratory analysis, the investigators observed less effect for those who lived in high-deprivation neighborhoods.

“Worse sleep quality was associated with an increased risk of both overall COPD exacerbations and the subset of exacerbations resulting in hospitalization,” the authors write. “These findings highlight the importance of life circumstances in influencing disease control.”

SPROMICS was supported by several pharmaceutical companies.

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