Global warming may increase the burden of obstructive sleep apnea

High ambient temperatures are associated with reduced sleep duration and quality, but effects on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity are unknown. Here we quantify the effect of 24 h ambient temperature on nightly OSA severity in 116,620 users of a Food and Drug Administration-cleared nearable over 3.5 years. Wellbeing and productivity OSA burden for different levels of global warming were estimated. Globally, higher temperatures (99<sup>th</sup> vs. 25<sup>th</sup>; 27.3 vs. 6.4 °C) were associated with a 45% higher probability of having OSA on a given night (mean [95% confidence interval]; 1.45 [1.44, 1.47]). Warming-related increase in OSA prevalence in 2023 was estimated to be associated with a loss of 788,198 (489,226, 1,087,170) healthy life years (in 29 countries), and a workplace productivity loss of 30 (21 to 40) billion United States dollars. Scenarios with projected temperatures ≥1.8 °C above pre-industrial levels would incur a further 1.2 to 3-fold increase in OSA burden by 2100.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-06-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60218-1
Citations
16
Primary Topic
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
18.63

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article

Global warming may increase the burden of obstructive sleep apnea

Sébastien Bailly, Josh Fitton, Jack Manners, Hannah Scott et al.
16 citations
Nature Communications
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Research
18.63
article

Global warming may increase the burden of obstructive sleep apnea

Sébastien Bailly, Josh Fitton, Jack Manners, Hannah Scott, Robert Adams, Pierre Escourrou, Barbara Toson, Bastien Lechat, Danny J. Eckert, Billingsley Kaambwa, Peter Catcheside, Jean‐Louis Pépin, Daniel Vena, Lucía Pinilla, Amy C. Reynolds
article en
16 citations

Abstract

High ambient temperatures are associated with reduced sleep duration and quality, but effects on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity are unknown. Here we quantify the effect of 24 h ambient temperature on nightly OSA severity in 116,620 users of a Food and Drug Administration-cleared nearable over 3.5 years. Wellbeing and productivity OSA burden for different levels of global warming were estimated. Globally, higher temperatures (99<sup>th</sup> vs. 25<sup>th</sup>; 27.3 vs. 6.4 °C) were associated with a 45% higher probability of having OSA on a given night (mean [95% confidence interval]; 1.45 [1.44, 1.47]). Warming-related increase in OSA prevalence in 2023 was estimated to be associated with a loss of 788,198 (489,226, 1,087,170) healthy life years (in 29 countries), and a workplace productivity loss of 30 (21 to 40) billion United States dollars. Scenarios with projected temperatures ≥1.8 °C above pre-industrial levels would incur a further 1.2 to 3-fold increase in OSA burden by 2100.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Brigham and Women's Hospital (US), Harvard University (US), Inserm (FR), Flinders University (AU), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Grenoble (FR), Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity (FR), Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health (AU), Circadian (United States) (US), Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
Fondation Université Grenoble Alpes, European Commission, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Medical Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Research
18.63
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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