Women with obstructive sleep apnoea are more likely to sustain vertebral fractures, but their risk of hip fracture is not significantly increased, according to US researchers.

The researchers found a two-fold increased risk of vertebral fractures in those with a history of obstructive sleep apnoea after analysing data from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS).

“We found that the risk was even higher for women who had daytime sleepiness,” said senior author Dr Julie Paik of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

For the study, reported in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, the authors looked at more than 55,000 NHS participants with no history of fractures.