Abstract Rationale Asthma correlating with sleep apnea presents with increased mortality and morbidity. Both aforementioned conditions share overlapping airway inflammation and nocturnal hypoxemia, compromising respiratory and cardiovascular health. This study explores national trends and disparities in mortality associated with asthma and sleep apnea among adults in the United States (U.S.) from 1999 to 2023. Methods We extracted mortality data using CDC WONDER Database using International Classification of Death-10th revision (ICD-10) codes J45 (Asthma) and G47 (Sleep Apnea). Adults ≥25 years were included in our study. Age-adjusted mortality rates per 100,000 (AAMRs) were calculated. Data was stratified into demographic and geographic categories. We then analyzed the trends using Joinpoint Regression software (v 5.4.0) calculating annual and average annual percent changes (APCs and AAPCs respectively). Results A total of 8,480 deaths were attributable to asthma-sleep apnea from 1999 to 2023. The AAMRs inclined significantly from 0.41 to 2.94 through the course of our study, experiencing an AAPC of 8.51 (95% CI, 7.56 to 10.23; p 0.05), especially during older age ≥65 years (AAMR: 3.05). Overall, the AAMRs rose between 1999 and 2005 APC, 13.78; 95% CI, 8.17 to 42.92; p 0.05, with a subsequent slower increase till 2018 APC, 5.42; 95% CI, 0.15 to 6.63; p 0.05. It then surged between 2018 and 2021 APC, 29.59; 95% CI, 21.72 to 35.32; p 0.05, eventually declining till 2023 APC, -13.01; 95% CI, -19.12 to -6.74; p 0.05. Females exhibited higher AAMRs compared to males (1.57 vs 1.32). Ethnically, Non-Hispanic (NH) Blacks had the highest AAMR (2.85), followed by NH Whites (1.34). Regionally, the Western census region had the highest mortality burden (1.85), with metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas being equally affected (1.20 both). State-wise, AAMRs were highest in Oregon (9.01). Conclusion Geriatric females, NH Blacks and individuals from Western U.S. are high-risk subgroups dying from coexisting asthma and sleep apnea. CPAP therapy and early OSA screening have proven better prognosis in asthma patients, reducing the mortality burden. This abstract is funded by: None
Aleem et al. (Fri,) studied this question.