Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may be associated with poorer memory performance and higher estimated risk for future dementia, according to study findings published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

Researchers evaluated whether self-reported OSA was associated with cognitive function and dementia risk among cognitively unimpaired adults in midlife and whether apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 carrier status modified those associations.

The researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the Healthy Brain Project, an Australian community-based cohort enriched for individuals with a family history of dementia. The analysis included 2795 cognitively unimpaired adults aged 40 to 70 years. OSA status was determined by self-report, cognitive performance was assessed with the Cogstate Brief Battery, and dementia risk was estimated using the Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Incidence of Dementia (CAIDE) score.

 These findings highlight the need for early OSA screening to identify individuals at elevated dementia risk. Participants had a mean age of 56.4 years, 76% were women, and 7% reported an OSA diagnosis. Approximately one-third carried the APOE ε4 allele, more than one-half reported a first- or second-degree family history of dementia, and nearly three-fifths of those with OSA were receiving treatment. Compared with participants without OSA, those with OSA were older, had higher body mass index values, and were more likely to be men and have hypertension or hypercholesterolemia. They also reported poorer sleep quality, greater daytime sleepiness, more severe insomnia symptoms, and higher anxiety and depression scores. After adjustment for demographic characteristics and OSA treatment status, participants with OSA demonstrated significantly poorer memory performance than those without OSA (Cohen d, -0.22; P =.03), although attention did not differ between groups.