A systematic review of COVID-19 and obstructive sleep apnoea

Abstract

The aims of the study were to review the rapidly emerging COVID-19 literature to determine 1) the relationship between obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and adverse COVID-19 outcomes and, 2) potential causal mechanisms 3) what effect COVID-19 has had on OSA diagnosis and 4) what effect COVID-19 has had on treatment and management of OSA during this period. PubMed was systematically searched up to 020620. Studies were included if they had examined the relationship between COVID-19 and OSA. Studies were included that were in English and had the full text available. The findings from this study suggest that many of the risk factors and co-morbidities associated for OSA which include obesity, hypertension and diabetes mellitus are associated with poor COVID-19 outcomes. There are plausible mechanisms by which OSA may independently increase one's risk of morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 and data from the newly published CORONADO study suggests that OSA treated patients may be at increased risk of death from COVID-19. It is clear that the pandemic has had a major effect on the treatment management and diagnosis of OSA and moving forward it may be necessary to explore new diagnosis and treatment pathways for these individuals.