Incidence of Sleep-Disordered Breathing in an Urban Adult Population

Abstract

Numerous studies have demonstrated that sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is both a prevalent phenomenon¹ and associated with or causal of serious chronic illness.² Current treatments seem to halt the progression or even reverse some deleterious effects of SDB.^3-5 If these therapies are to be made available to larger liable populations, precise estimates of both prevalence and incidence rates of SDB and its sequelae must be developed. Cross-sectional studies have derived estimates of the prevalence of SDB in a number of populations, particularly of adults.^6,7 Incidence data are equally important in anticipating the scale of effects of SDB and of resources to treat patients; however, no studies have examined the incidence of SDB or the influence of risk factors on the incidence of SDB.