Association Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Nightmare Disorder, and Incident Herpes Zoster
April 2018
in “
SLEEP
”
TLDR People with obstructive sleep apnea are more likely to get herpes zoster, but nightmares don't affect the risk.
The study examined the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), nightmare disorder (NMD), and the incidence of herpes zoster (HZ) in a cohort of 22,891 veterans. It found that patients with OSA had a higher incidence of HZ, with 238 out of 3,536 OSA patients (6.73%) developing HZ compared to 611 out of 17,037 patients without OSA (3.59%). This resulted in an odds ratio of 1.94 before adjustment, and 1.64 after adjusting for confounding factors, indicating a significant association between OSA and the development of HZ. However, no significant association was found between NMD and HZ. The study suggests that OSA may impair immune function, increasing the risk of HZ.
