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Cohort profile: the Western Australian Sleep Health Study

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Abstract

Background

Epidemiologic and genetic studies of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) are limited by a lack of large-scale, well-characterized OSA cohorts. These studies require large sample size to provide adequate power to detect differences between groups. This study describes the development of such a cohort (The Western Australian Sleep Health Study) in OSA patients of Caucasian–European origin attending the only public sleep clinic in Western Australia (WA).

Aims

The main aim of the study is to phenotype 4,000 OSA patients in order to define the genetics of OSA and its co-morbidities.

Methods

Almost all underwent laboratory-based attended polysomnography (PSG).

Results

Currently complete data (questionnaire, biochemistry, DNA, and PSG) has been obtained on over 3,000 individuals and will reach the target of 4,000 individuals by the end of 2010. In a separate but related study, we have developed a sleep study database containing data from all patients who have undergone PSG at the sleep laboratory since its inception in 1988 until the present day (over 30,000 PSG studies representing data from approximately 20,000 individuals). In addition, data from both cohorts have been linked prospectively to statutory health data collected by the WA Department of Health.

Conclusion

This study will be the largest sleep clinic cohort database internationally with access to genetic and epidemiological data. It is unique among sleep clinic cohorts because of its size, the breadth of data collected and the ability to link prospectively to statutory health data. It will be a major tool to comprehensively assess genetic and epidemiologic factors determining OSA and its co-morbidities.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for the Western Australian Sleep Health study thus far has been obtained from the Sir Charles Gairdner and Hollywood Private Hospital Research Foundations, the State Health Research Advisory Council of Western Australia, the Western Australian Sleep Disorders Research Institute, and the Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Western Australia. Informatics and biobanking support is received from the Western Australian Genetic Epidemiology Resource and WA DNA Bank, both National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Enabling Facilities. The authors gratefully acknowledge all the students and volunteers who have assisted with data collection for the WASHS. The authors thank the sleep clinic patients for their participation in this study, and the Busselton Population Medical Research Foundation. We are also grateful for the support received from WA Sleep Disorders Research Institute, Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and PathWest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Australian Sleep Disorders Research Institute, Perth, Australia

    Sutapa Mukherjee, David Hillman & Bernadett Szegner

  2. Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, Australia

    Sutapa Mukherjee, David Hillman & Gregory Love

  3. Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

    Sutapa Mukherjee, Jessica Lee, Annette Fedson, Laila Simpson, Kim Ward, Cass Edwards, Bernadett Szegner & Lyle John Palmer

  4. Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Lyle John Palmer

Authors
  1. Sutapa Mukherjee
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  2. David Hillman
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  3. Jessica Lee
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  4. Annette Fedson
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  5. Laila Simpson
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  6. Kim Ward
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  7. Gregory Love
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  8. Cass Edwards
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  9. Bernadett Szegner
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  10. Lyle John Palmer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sutapa Mukherjee.

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Mukherjee, S., Hillman, D., Lee, J. et al. Cohort profile: the Western Australian Sleep Health Study. Sleep Breath 16, 205–215 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-011-0491-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-011-0491-3

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