Correlations between risk of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and heart rate variability in high-altitude military flying personnel

ZHOU Xiaoxiao; XIE Junhao; LIU Yazhen; CHEN Xiaojie; QIAN Jiacheng; ZHANG Zehan; XU Xianrong; LIU Juan

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2097-1753.2025.03.010

Abstract：Objective To explore the correlations between the risk of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome(OSAS)and heart rate variability(HRV)based on HRV,and to study the effect of sleep-disordered breathing on daytime autonomic nervous function in high-altitude military flying personnel.Methods A total of 47 military flying personnel stationed at high altitudes were selected as the subjects.A sleep questionnaire survey was conducted,data on short-term HRV was collected by a head-mounted HRV monitoring device and the risk of OSAS was assessed using the STOP-BANG scale and Epworth scale.Participants were divided into the risk group and normal group according to the results of evaluation of scales.The findings of the survey,the difference in HRV indexes and correlations between HRV and the scores of STOP-BANG scale and Epworth scale were analyzed across the 2 groups.Results Out of the 47 flying personnel,20 were in the risk group and the rest were in the normal group.There were no significant differences in age,BMI,durations of flight,length of long-term stay on the plateau and total sleep time(all P＞0.05)between the 2 groups.The incidence of attention/memory decline in the risk group was higher than that in the normal group(x2=4.335,P=0.037),so was the high frequency power(HF)(t=2.933,P=0.007).There was no significant difference between other HRV indexes(all P＞0.05).The Epworth scale score had a moderate positive correlation with HF(rs=0.402,P=0.005),while the STOP-BANG scale had a low positive correlation with HF and PNN50(％)(rs=0.394,0.299,P=0.006,0.041).Conclusion Flying personnel at high risk of OSAS are more vulnerable to daytime symptoms related to sleep deficiency,especially decreased attention/memory.In addition,they are likely to develop autonomic nervous dysfunction,such as increased parasympathetic excitability.The more sleepy during the day,the higher the parasympathetic tension.It is recommended that autonomic nervous dysfunction be taken into consideration in case of sleep disorders among flying personnel at high altitudes.