Polysomnographic Diagnoses Among Former World Trade Center Rescue Workers and Volunteers

ABSTRACT

An increased risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been suggested for World Trade Center (WTC)-exposed workers. The authors reviewed the results from nocturnal polysomnograms (PSGs), to investigate diagnostic differences between WTC-exposed and -unexposed subjects. Six hundred fifty-six nocturnal PSGs performed at our sleep center were reviewed, 272 of them in former WTC workers. Seven diagnostic categories were compared between the 2 groups by bivariate and logistic regression analyses. The WTC group had a significantly higher predominance of the male gender, but slightly lower body mass index (BMI). There was no significant difference in the distribution of PSG diagnoses between the 2 groups in unadjusted (p = .56) or adjusted (p = .49) analyses. The authors did not identify a significant difference in PSG diagnoses between the WTC-exposed and -unexposed subjects. OSA was significantly associated with age, BMI, and gender in this patient population.

KEYWORDS:

• occupational medicine
• respiratory diseases
• sleep apnea
• World Trade Center

Acknowledgments

The publication of this work was made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH), cooperative agreement no. U10 OH008225. The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC/NIOSH. The work described in this article was performed before October 2006, when the WTC HETP had been funded by the following philanthropic organizations: the American Red Cross, the September 11 Fund, the Robin Hood Foundation, and the Bear Stearns Charitable Foundation. This work was presented in abstract form at the 2011 Congress of the European Respiratory Society, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.