Snoring and the severity of coronary artery disease in men.

Previous studies have found associations between snoring, or polysomnographic documented sleep apnea, and hypertension, cerebral vascular disease, and myocardial infarction. The present study examined the relationship of coronary artery disease (CAD) and snoring. One hundred and twenty-two males with positive angiographic studies were compared with fifty-six men, matched in age and socioeconomic status, who had no known history of coronary heart, or other atherosclerotic, disease. The percentage of subjects reporting that they snore "usually" or "always/loudly" increased across the four CAD severity groupings (nonpatient controls = 19.6%, 1 vessel = 44.4%, 2 vessel = 41.9%, 3 vessel = 56.0%) with a p value of .005. Hypertension, body mass index, and pack years of smoking were found to be associated with both coronary artery disease severity and snoring. When these variables were controlled in a multiple regression analysis, the relationship of snoring and CAD severity remained significant at p = .050.