Twin Threat of OSA and Hypertension on Mortality/CV-risk and Protective Effect by Positive Airway Pressure Treatment.

Hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are both common conditions that independently increase the risk cardiovascular disease including atrial fibrillation, ischemic heart disease, heart failure and stroke. OSA is also an independent promoter of hypertension development and poorly controlled hypertension is overrepresented in OSA. Finally, HT and OSA share many risk factors including obesity, and several lifestyle factors. Altogether, these links contribute to a high prevalence of patients with both disorders.

The investigators suspect participants with HT and OSA are at even higher CV risk and may get their first CV event earlier in life. Comparison between HT and OSA participants vs HT alone, OSA alone or healthy controls has not previously been investigated in large studies.

Thus, the investigators aim to investigate long-term risk of major cardiovascular events (MACE) or death comparing these groups in registry data between 2010-2022 in Sweden. The investigators will also investigate the protecting effect of positive airway pressure (PAP) on the OSA related CV risk increase and how many hours/night of PAP use is needed to get any protective effects.