A meta-analysis on the relationship between sleep apnea syndrome and coronary artery disease

AIM:To analyze case-control studies on the relationship between coronary artery diseases (CAD) and sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) and to provide support of evidence-based medicine for studies regarding SAS and CAD. METHODS: Literature reports of case-control studies on the relationship between CAD and SAS were collected and the morbidity of SAS in CAD group and non-CAD group was compared. Heterogeneity and original data were analyzed by Stata12 and RevMan5.2 and the outcomes were indicated by OR and 95% CI. Publication bias and sensitivity were also tested. RESULTS: Selected studies were categorized into two groups according to different definitions of SAS. The outcomes of the first group with nine studies were statistically significant (OR=2.95, 95% CI 2.25-3.87, P<0.05) and the outcomes of the second group with five studies were also statistically significant (OR=3.42, 95% CI 1.74-6.71, P<0.05). Bias test showed no publication bias and sensitivity analysis showed that the results were stable. The morbidity of SAS showed a positive correlation with CAD. CONCLUSION: The morbidity of SAS in CAD patients is higher than in patients without CAD. SAS is a risk factor for CAD.