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Sleep-disordered breathing advances cognitive decline in the elderly
Osorio RS, Gumb T, Pirraglia E, Varga AW, Lu SE, Lim J, Wohlleber ME, Ducca EL et al.. Neurology, 2015-04-15
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To examine whether the presence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is associated with an earlier age at mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer disease (AD)-dementia onset in participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort. We also examined whether continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) use is associated with delayed onset of cognitive decline. Methods From the ADNI cohort, 3 subsets with progressively stringent criteria were created in a step-wise manner. Age at MCI or AD-dementia onset was the main outcome variable. Analyses were performed separately for each subset in untreated SDB+ vs SDB- and untreated SDB+ vs CPAP+ groups. Chi-square and t tests were performed to examine between-group differences. Survival analyses were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method, compared by the log-rank test, and assessed by multivariate Cox regression adjusting for potential confounders. Results SDB+ patients had a younger age at MCI onset in all subsets (MC1: 72.63 vs 83.67; MC2: 72.15 vs 83.45; MC3: 77.40 vs 89.89; p Conclusions Consistent with our hypothesis, the presence of SDB was associated with an earlier age at cognitive decline. Our findings in CPAP+ participants suggest that CPAP treatment of SDB may delay progression of cognitive impairment.
Key findings
- Objective To examine whether the presence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is associated with an earlier age at mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer disease (AD)-dementia onset in participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort.
- We also examined whether continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) use is associated with delayed onset of cognitive decline.
- Results SDB+ patients had a younger age at MCI onset in all subsets (MC1: 72.63 vs 83.67; MC2: 72.15 vs 83.45; MC3: 77.40 vs 89.89; p Conclusions Consistent with our hypothesis, the presence of SDB was associated with an earlier age at cognitive decline.
- Our findings in CPAP+ participants suggest that CPAP treatment of SDB may delay progression of cognitive impairment.
Why it matters
In this cohort, people with sleep-disordered breathing reached mild cognitive impairment at a younger age than those without it. Among those using continuous positive airway pressure, cognitive decline appeared to be delayed, suggesting treatment of this sleep problem may help slow impairment.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 57/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2015 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 427 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 32.8 citations a year over 13 year(s) since 2015 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 25.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 17 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 94 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Laurel A. Beckett: h-index 116 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | New York University: institution h-index 1,612 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 25878183) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 57 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
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Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Osorio, R. S., Gumb, T., Pirraglia, E., Varga, A. W., Lu, S. E., Lim, J., et al. (2015). Sleep-disordered breathing advances cognitive decline in the elderly. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000001566
Vancouver
Osorio RS, Gumb T, Pirraglia E, Varga AW, Lu SE, Lim J, et al. Sleep-disordered breathing advances cognitive decline in the elderly. Neurology. 2015. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000001566. PMID: 25878183.
BibTeX
@article{osorio2015-25878183,
author = {Osorio, R. S. and Gumb, T. and Pirraglia, E. and Varga, A. W. and Lu, S. E. and Lim, J. and Wohlleber, M. E. and Ducca, E. L. and others},
title = {{Sleep-disordered breathing advances cognitive decline in the elderly}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0000000000001566},
pmid = {25878183},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000001566}
}
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