부산대학교 도서관

The prevalence of sleep disorders in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) appeared high; however, large scale, population-based studies have not yet been performed. We aimed to examine the subsequent risk of sleep disorders among AS patients in a nationwide database in Taiwan. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the National Health Insurance (NHI) system of Taiwan. The case cohort included 1,785 patients newly diagnosed with AS between 2000 and 2010. The date of diagnosis was defined as the index date. Each patient was randomly matched with four people without AS, according to gender, age, and the index year. The occurrence of sleep disorders was followed up until the end of 2011. The overall incidence of sleep disorders was 1.60-fold greater in the AS cohort than in the non-AS cohort (28.4 versus 17.6 per 1000 person-years), with a multivariable Cox method measured adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 1.47 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.29- 1.68]. In addition, we found that the incident obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increased in the AS cohort than the non-AS one, but this was not significant (adjusted HR = 1.37, 95% CI = 0.75- 2.51). AS patients had a significantly higher risk of developing sleep disorders than the general population. The incidence of OSA in AS patients was also higher; however, it was not statistically significant.