LAUSR

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common sleep disorder in clinical practice, which leads to impaired quality of life and is associated with adverse health outcomes. Due to limitations of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the gold standard treatment for OSA, studies have recommended lifestyle interventions such as physical activity to prevent OSA. This study was to investigate the association of physical activity with OSA risk among adult Chinese. 9733 participants aged 35-74 years were selected from baseline survey of the Guangzhou Heart Study. OSA was ascertained by using Berlin Questionnaire and the physical activity, including leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), occupational activity and transport activity, was measured with modified Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Principal component analysis was used to extract the patterns of LTPA with varimax orthogonal transformation. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was calculated by using logistic regression method. For all participants, LTPA (High vs. Inactive, OR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.64 - 1.03), occupational activity (Vigorous vs. Retirement, OR:1.28, 95% CI: 0.93 - 1.75) and transport activity (High vs. Retirement, OR: 1.05, 95% CI: 0.69 - 1.60) were not associated with OSA risk after considering potential confounders. Any specific component of LTPA and two LTPA patterns were not associated with OSA risk, either. Stratified analysis yielded similar nonsignificant association of OSA risk with three dimensions of physical activity in both retirement group and non-retirement group. This study found that three dimensions of physical activity, including LTPA, transport activity and occupational activity, were not associated with any risk of OSA. Future studies with longitudinal design are needed. Physical activity may not decrease the risk of obstructive sleep apena.