Cardiorespiratory fitness and long‐term risk of sleep apnea: A national cohort study

Sleep apnea is increasing in prevalence, and is an important cause of cardiometabolic diseases and mortality worldwide. Its only established modifiable risk factor is obesity; however, up to half of all sleep apnea cases may occur in non‐obese persons, and hence there is a pressing need to identify other modifiable risk factors to facilitate more effective prevention. We sought to examine, for the first time, cardiorespiratory fitness in relation to the risk of sleep apnea, independent of obesity.