WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Researchers, writing in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, analyzed data from over 70,000 people who used an under-mattress sleep sensor that tracked their heart rate, snoring, and sleep apnea. Most of the participants were middle-aged, male, and overweight.
All participants had at least four sleep recordings per week, 28 or more sleep apnea readings in a year, and on average, five or more breathing interruptions per hour while sleeping.
The study found that the chances of having moderate to severe sleep apnea (15 or more breathing interruptions an hour) were 18 percent higher on Saturdays compared to Wednesdays. The effect was stronger in men and people under 60.
They also found that sleeping in for 45 minutes or more on weekends, compared with less than six minutes, was linked to a 47 percent higher risk of moderate to severe sleep apnea. Similarly, having a 'social jetlag', meaning a shift in sleep schedule of an hour or more compared with less than 18 minutes, was linked to a 38 percent higher risk.
'Keeping a fixed wake-up time and using your prescribed OSA therapy, even on weekends, and going to bed when you feel sleepy will help ensure you frequently get enough restorative sleep which can help combat the weekend spike in OSA,' Prof Danny Eckert advised.
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