Objective Pregnancy and the obesity epidemic impacting women of reproductive age appear to predispose women to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in pregnancy. The aim of this study is to examine the association between OSA and adverse maternal outcomes in a national cohort. Methods The National Perinatal Information Center in the US was used to identify women with a delivery discharge diagnosis of OSA from 2010 to 2014. We used the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision to classify OSA diagnosis and maternal outcomes. Results The sample consisted of 1,577,632 gravidas with a rate of OSA of 0.12% (N=1963). There was a significant association between OSA and preeclampsia (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.22, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.94–2.54), eclampsia (aOR 2.95, 1.08–8.02) and gestational diabetes (aOR 1.51, 1.34–1.72) after adjusting for a comprehensive list of covariates which includes maternal obesity. OSA status was also associated with a 2.5- to 3.5-fold increase in risk of severe complications such as cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure and hysterectomy. Length of hospital stay was significantly longer (5.1 ± 5.6 vs 3.0 ± 3.0 days, p<0.001) and odds of an admission to an intensive care unit higher (aOR 2.74, 2.36–3.18) in women with OSA. Conclusions Compared to pregnant women without OSA, pregnant women with OSA have a significantly higher risk of pregnancy-specific complications such as gestational hypertensive conditions and gestational diabetes, and rare medical and surgical complications such as cardiomyopathy, pulmonary edema, congestive heart failure and hysterectomy. OSA diagnosis was also associated with a longer hospital stay and significantly increased odds for admission to the intensive care unit.

Although pregnancy events predict the long-term risk of chronic disease, little is known about their short-term impact because of the rarity of clinical events. We examined hospital discharge diagnoses linked to birth certificate data in the year following delivery for 849,639 births during 1995-2004 in New York City, New York. Adjusted odds ratios characterized the relationship between pregnancy complications and subsequent hospitalization for cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes. Gestational hypertension was related to heart failure (adjusted odds ratio = 2.6, 95% confidence interval: 1.5, 4.5). Preeclampsia was related to all of the outcomes considered except type 1 diabetes, with adjusted odds ratios ranging from 2.0 to 4.1. Gestational diabetes was strongly related to the risk of subsequent diabetes (for type 1 diabetes, adjusted odds ratio = 40.4, 95% confidence interval: 23.8, 68.5; for type 2 diabetes, adjusted odds ratio = 22.6, 95% confidence interval: 16.9, 30.4) but to no other outcomes. The relationship of pregnancy complications to future chronic disease is apparent as early as the year following delivery. Moreover, elucidating short-term clinical outcomes offers the potential for etiological insights into the relationship between pregnancy events and chronic disease over the life course.

Background Baseline values for daily step counts in US adults with COPD and knowledge of its accurate measurement, natural change over time, and independent relationships with measures of COPD severity are limited. Methods 127 persons with stable COPD wore the StepWatch Activity Monitor (SAM) for 14 days, and 102 of them wore it a median 3.9 months later. SAM counts were compared to manual counts in the clinic. We assessed change over time, the effect of season, and relationships with forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) % predicted, 6-minute walk test (6MWT) distance, the modified Medical Research Council (MMRC) dyspnea score, and the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire Total Score (SGRQ-TS). Results 98% of subjects were males, with mean age 71 ± 8 years and FEV1 1.48 ± 0.54 L (52 ± 19 % predicted). All 4 GOLD stages were represented, with the most subjects in GOLD II (44%) and GOLD III (37%). The SAM had > 90% accuracy in 99% of subjects. Average step count was 5,680 steps/day, which decreased with increasing GOLD stage (p=0.0046). Subjects walked 645 fewer steps/day at follow-up, which was partly explained by season of monitoring (p=0.013). In a multivariate model, FEV1 % predicted, 6MWT distance and MMRC score were weakly associated with daily step counts, while SGRQ-TS was not. Conclusions These findings will aid the design of future studies using daily step counts in COPD. Accurately measured, daily step counts decline over time partly due to season and capture unique information about COPD status.