TY - JOUR T1 - Multimorbidity and overall comorbidity of sleep apnoea. A Finnish nationwide study JF - ERJ Open Research JO - erjor DO - 10.1183/23120541.00646-2021 SP - 00646-2021 AU - Marja Palomäki AU - Tarja Saaresranta AU - Ulla Anttalainen AU - Markku Partinen AU - Jaana Keto AU - Miika Linna Y1 - 2022/01/01 UR - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/early/2022/04/07/23120541.00646-2021.abstract N2 - The prevalence of sleep apnoea is increasing globally; however, population-based studies have reported a wide variation of prevalence estimates, and data on incidence of clinically diagnosed sleep apnoea are scant. Data on the overall burden of comorbidities or multimorbidity in individuals with incident sleep apnoea are scarce, and the pathways to multimorbidity have only marginally been studied. To study the current epidemiology of sleep apnoea in Finland, overall burden of comorbidities, and multimorbidity profiles in individuals with incident sleep apnoea, we conducted a register-based, nationwide, retrospective study of data from January 2016–December 2019. The prevalence of clinically diagnosed sleep apnoea was 3.7% in the Finnish adult population; 1-year incidence was 0.6%. Multimorbidity was present in 63% of individuals at the time of sleep apnoea diagnosis. Of those with incident sleep apnoea, 34% were heavily multimorbid (presenting with ≥4 comorbidities). The three most common chronic morbidities before sleep apnoea diagnosis were musculoskeletal disease, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. In multimorbid sleep apnoea patients, hypertension, and metabolic diseases, including obesity and diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal diseases and dorsopathies, in different combinations, encompassed the most frequent disease pairs preceding a sleep apnoea diagnosis. Our study adds to the few population-based studies by introducing overall and detailed figures on the burden of comorbidities in sleep apnoea in a nationwide sample and provides up-to-date information on the occurrence of sleep apnoea as well as novel insights in multimorbidity in individuals with incident sleep apnoea.FootnotesThis manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the ERJ Open Research. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJOR online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.Conflict of interest: Marja Palomäki has received lecture fees from GlaxoSmithCline ltd, Chiesi ltd and Orion ltd, and research grants form Foundation of the Finnish Anti-Tuberculosis Association, Väinö and Laina Kivi Foundation, and Ida Montin Foundation.Conflict of interest: Tarja Saaresranta is the chairperson of Finnish Task Force for Current Care Guidelines of Adult Sleep Apnoea. She has received lecture fee from Jazz Pharmaceuticals and financial support for educational events from ResMed Finland and Philips Healthcare Finland.Conflict of interest: Ulla Anttalainen has received research grants from the Finnish Government / Turku University Hospital, Foundation of the Finnish Anti-Tuberculosis Association, Tampere Tuberculosis Foundation, and Research Foundation for Respiratory Diseases.Conflict of interest: Markku Partinen has received study grant from Parkinson Foundation, consulting fees from Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Bioprojet, lecturing fees form MSD, Takeda, and GSK, and has participated in medical advisory board of Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Bioprojet.Conflict of interest: Jaana Keto is an employee in Jazz Pharmaceuticals.Conflict of interest: Miika Linna has received consulting fee from Jazz Pharmaceuticals. ER -