A Review of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Shift Work, Gender

The purpose of the review is to make connections between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and shift work while giving special attention to the factor of gender and rapid eye movement sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder that has various detrimental effects on health and cognitive functioning. The prevalence and symptoms of OSA appear to be gender specific. The current clinical guideline has not yet included the evaluation of fatigue, the common symptoms among women with OSA, which may lead to an under diagnosis of OSA among women. Rapid eye movement sleep is associated with more severe OSA episodes. Shift work has a similar range of effects on health and cognitive functioning, however, it affects workers through both sleep disturbance and circadian disruption. Gender specific effects have also been observed among shift workers. Night shift interacts with REM sleep and may lead to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Finally, we proposed the question, “Is there a difference in the REM sleep of male and female night shift workers with OSA,” and “How is cognitive functioning of these two groups affected by the interaction of OSA and shift work?”.