Sleep apnea measures linked to cardiovascular death in adults
Among 4,790 adults, those with high oxygen-drop burden and large heart rate surges had a 9.20% risk of cardiovascular death over 10 years.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational cohort study followed 4,790 community-dwelling adults with a mean age of 63.9 years; 53.8% were female. Researchers used overnight sleep recordings to measure heart rate surges after breathing disruptions and the burden of blood oxygen drops.
Over a median 11.6 years, 334 participants died from cardiovascular disease. After accounting for demographics, other conditions and standard sleep measures, the highest fifth for heart rate surge had a cardiovascular death hazard ratio of 3.06—a measure comparing death rates during follow-up. Oxygen-drop burden no longer had a statistically significant association with cardiovascular death when the researchers included both measures in the analysis. Participants with high values on both measures formed a high-risk group. Adding heart rate surge also improved the model’s ability to distinguish participants who would die from cardiovascular disease.
Why it matters
Sleep apnea involves both oxygen drops and heart rate responses that standard breathing-disruption counts may miss. Distinguishing these effects may help refine risk assessment for cardiovascular disease, an important concern in aging.
Caveats
This observational study cannot establish cause and effect. The conference abstract did not specify the reference groups for its hazard ratios, limiting interpretation of those comparisons.
The paper
Fuwai Hospital; Northeastern University
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
