• Dong Zhang, Yibo Ma, Jian Xu, and Fu Yi.
• Department of Cardiology, Xijing Hospital, The Air Force Military Medical University, Xi'an Shaanxi, China.Supplemental Digital Content is available for this article.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2022 Jul 29; 101 (30): e29443e29443.

BackgroundRefractory hypoxemia episodes are characteristic of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Patients with OSA suffer from oxidative stress in all systems. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a type of arrhythmia that may be induced by OSA. In this study, we explored the dose-response relationship between OSA and AF. Our research provides the basis for a novel approach to AF prevention.MethodsWe screened four databases (PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science) for observational studies on OSA and AF. Studies were collected from database establishment to November 2020. We performed a traditional subgroup meta-analysis. Linear and spline dose-response models were applied to assess the association between the apnea-hypopnea index, an indicator of OSA severity, and the risk of AF. Review Manager version 5.3 software and Stata 16.0 were used for the analysis.ResultsSixteen observational studies were included in the study. We excluded a study from the conventional meta-analysis. In the subgroup analysis, the odds ratios for new onset AF for no obvious reason, new onset AF after surgical operations, such as coronary artery bypass grafting, and AF after ablation treatment were 1.71 (95% CI 1.37-2.13, P < .05), 2.65 (95% CI 2.32-3.01, P < .05), and 2.93 (95% CI 2.47-3.49, P < .05), respectively. Linear dose-response meta-analysis results revealed that the risk of AF increased with increasing apnea-hypopnea index value.ConclusionThrough dose-response meta-analysis, we found a potential dose-response relationship between OSA severity and the risk of AF. This relationship should be considered in interventions aimed at AF prevention in the future.Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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