Longitudinal development of sleep-related respiratory disturbance in adult humans.

A number of cross-sectional studies have found that sleep-related respiratory disturbance ( SRRD ) is common in elderly adults. This preliminary study reports on samples of middle-aged and elderly humans in good health whose polysomnographically recorded sleep was followed over time. Participants were selected for low levels of SRRD on Time 1 recording. Results indicated an increase in SRRD over the study period. This increase ws not limited to rapid eye movement or nonrapid eye movement sleep; tobacco usage, medication status, and weight gain could not account for the change, although in several cases, modest weight gain was associated with increased respiratory disturbance. These data imply that future studies of incidence of SRRD may reveal changes within a 10-year period, although the pathological consequences of these age-related changes, if any at all, may take a longer period to develop.