![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crmcspl-blog.recherche.usherbrooke.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/Laurence.jpg\" "\\"Laurence\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nA paper entitled Obstructive sleep apnea and multimorbidity<\/strong> was recently published in BMC Pulmonary Medicine.<\/a> The work described was carried out in the course of completing a Master\u2019s degree in Clinical Sciences at the Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, under the supervision of Dr. Martin Fortin and Dr. Michel Beaudry. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) poses a major public health problem due to its prevalence, severity and socioeconomic burden. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, 858,900 Canadians reported suffering from sleep apnea, and almost 26% of Canadians are at high risk of developing the condition (http:\/\/www.phac-aspc.gc.ca\/cd-mc\/sleepapnea-apneesommeil\/ff-rr-2009-eng.php<\/a>).<\/p>\n Multimorbidity\u2014defined as the co-occurrence of two or more chronic diseases\u2014is highly prevalent in primary care. One study reported that multimorbidity is observed in patients with OSA (1), but, to our knowledge, ours is the first to analyse the association between OSA and multimorbidity.<\/p>\n Our study revealed an association between severe OSA and severity of multimorbidity as measured by the Disease Burden Morbidity Assessment (DBMA) (2). The relationship was still present after adjusting for several potential confounders. The study also showed an association between OSA and multimorbidity sub-scores (cardiac, vascular, metabolic syndrome).<\/p>\n Primary care providers should be aware of these potential associations and investigate OSA when deemed appropriate.<\/p>\n This research received financial support from the CIHR Applied Research Chair \u2013 Health Services and Policy Research on Chronic Diseases in Primary Care\/Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Institute of Health Services and Policy Research, Canadian Health Services Research Foundation and Centre de sant\u00e9 et de services sociaux de Chicoutimi.<\/p>\n References<\/p>\n 1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Smith R, Ronald J, Delaive K, Walld R, Manfreda J, Kryger M: What are obstructive sleep apnea patients being treated for prior to this diagnosis? <\/strong>Chest <\/em>2002, 121<\/strong>:164\u2013172.<\/p>\n 2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Poitras M-E, Fortin M, Hudon C, Haggerty J, Almirall J: Validation of the disease burden morbidity assessment by self-report in a French-speaking population. <\/strong>BMC Health Service Research <\/em>2012, 12<\/strong>:35.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Laurence Robichaud-Hall\u00e9 A paper entitled Obstructive sleep apnea and multimorbidity was recently published in BMC Pulmonary Medicine. The work described was carried out in the course of completing a Master\u2019s degree in Clinical Sciences at the Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, under the supervision of Dr. Martin Fortin and Dr. Michel Beaudry. Obstructive sleep read more