Factors associated with sleep apnea in men with spinal cord injury : a population-based case-control study

To characterize a population of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients with sleep apnea, and to determine associated factors and comorbidities. Population-based retrospective case-control study. 584 male patients served by a Veterans Affairs SCI service. Medical records were reviewed for sleep apnea diagnosis, demographic information, neurologic characteristics, and treatments received. Sleep study reports were not available to determine the nature of abnormal respiratory events (ie central, obstructive, hypoventilation). For each case with tetraplegia, a control tetraplegic subject without sleep apnea diagnosis was selected. We identified 53 subjects with diagnosed sleep apnea: 42 tetraplegic, 11 paraplegic. This represented 14.9% of all tetraplegic and 3.7% of all paraplegic patients in the population (P