Cardiorespiratory response to exercise in men and women with obstructive sleep apnea

Abstract 

Background

OSA severity has been associated with self-reported lack of exercise. Most of the research has been done with men recruited from sleep clinics. There is limited data on the exercise performance of women with OSA. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess exercise performance in a prospective, consecutive sample of men and women with OSA to compare their cardio respiratory parameters, arterial blood pressure and heart rate responses during and after exercise.

Methods

Sixty-two subjects (32 men) completed the protocol. Men had a higher peak VO₂, percent predicted peak VO₂, VCO₂, heart rate, systolic BP, and oxygen pulse than women.

Results

There were no differences between men and women for peak oxygen saturation, peak Borg scales for dyspnea and leg fatigue and diastolic BP. A significant negative correlation was found between severity of OSA as measured by AHI, and peak VO₂ (r=−0.4) in women, but not in men.

Conclusion

Men with OSA have higher peak VO₂ and higher peak exercise heart rate than women with OSA; they also have higher end-exercise systolic BP than women and higher SBP during recovery from exercise; although this difference is not significant when adjusted for peak systolic BP. In men with OSA, there is no correlation between peak VO₂ and AHI, but there is a significant correlation between these variables in women. Heart rate and blood pressure behaved similarly during exercise in both groups.

Keywords: Blood pressure, Heart rate, Oxygen consumption, Obstructive sleep apnea, Exercise performance, Cardiovascular response