Abstract
Introduction The study aim was to examine the association of snoring and nocturnal gastro-oesophageal reflux (nGOR) with respiratory symptoms and lung function, and if snoring and/or nGOR associated with a steeper decline in lung function.
Methods Data from the third visit of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) was used for cross-sectional analysis. Pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry was performed, and information on sleep, nGOR and respiratory symptoms was collected (n=5715). Habitual snoring and nGOR were assessed by questionnaire reports. Pre-bronchodilator spirometry from ECRHS I, II and III (20 years follow-up) were used to analyse lung function changes by multivariate regression analysis.
Results Snoring and nGOR were independently associated with a higher prevalence of wheeze, chest tightness, breathlessness, cough and phlegm. The prevalence of any respiratory symptom was 79% in subjects with both snoring and nGOR versus 56% in those with neither (p<0.001). Subjects with both snoring and nGOR had more frequent exacerbations (adjusted prevalence 32% versus 19% among “no snoring, no nGOR”, p=0.003). Snoring but not nGOR was associated with a steeper decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 s over 10 years after adjusting for confounding factors (change in % predicted −5.53, versus −4.58 among “no snoring”, p=0.04) and forced vital capacity (change in % predicted −1.94, versus −0.99 among “no snoring”, p=0.03).
Conclusions Adults reporting both habitual snoring and nGOR had more respiratory symptoms and more frequent exacerbations of these symptoms. Habitual snoring was associated with a steeper decline in lung function over time.
Abstract
Middle-aged adults with habitual snoring have a steeper decline in lung function over 10 years compared to controls. Habitual snorers with nocturnal gastro-oesophageal reflux have a higher prevalence of nocturnal respiratory symptoms than controls. http://ow.ly/YsiK30odcMY
Footnotes
Conflict of interest: Ö.I. Emilsson has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: S.A. Hägg has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: E. Lindberg has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: K.A. Franklin has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: K. Toren has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: B. Benediktsdottir has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: T. Aspelund has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: F. Gómez Real has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: B. Leynaert has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: P. Demoly has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: T. Sigsgaard has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: J. Perret has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: A. Malinovschi has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: D. Jarvis reports grants from the European Union and the Medical Research Council during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: J. Garcia-Aymerich reports payment to her institution for consulting and lectures from AstraZeneca, and lecture fees from Esteve and Chiesi, outside the submitted work.
Conflict of interest: T. Gislason has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: C. Janson has nothing to disclose.
Support statement: The ALEC Study is funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement number 633212. Funding information for this article has been deposited with the Crossref Funder Registry.
- Received January 10, 2019.
- Accepted March 11, 2019.
- Copyright ©ERS 2019
This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licence 4.0.