Trial reportJournal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine2026
The effect of short-term descent to low altitude in healthy residents at moderate altitude - a randomized crossover trial.
Trial report in Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Broadening the interpretation of altitude-related sleep-disordered breathing: a behavioral perspective.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2026Article
- Sleep studies: does the altitude matter?Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
STUDY
objectivesWe examined the effect of a short-term descent to low altitude on sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in healthy moderate altitude residents.
methodsForty-four healthy participants (50% females), median age 47 years, living > 1000 m (median (IQR) altitude of 1230 m (1130; 1560)), were included. Polysomnographies were carried out for two consecutive nights at the participants' home elevations and for two nights at the sleep laboratory in Chur (590 m), Switzerland, after a 2-week washout period, in accordance with a randomized crossover design. The primary outcome was time spent under 90% oxygen saturation (T90). Important secondary outcomes were nocturnal oxygen saturation (SpO
resultsMean ± SE T90 was 1 ± 2 min at 590 m and 5 ± 2 min at > 1000 m (mean difference of 4 min, 95% CI of 1 to 7, p = 0.005). At 590 m, the total AHI was 9.2 ± 1.6/h (2.3% with AHI > 30/h), ODI 6.0 ± 1.4/h, and SpO
conclusionA short-term, low-altitude stay of healthy moderate altitude residents leads to a reduction in nocturnal hypoxemia and SDB, especially in males. These findings suggest that sleep-disordered breathing assessments at lower-than-living altitude might underestimate the severity of SDB in patients permanently living at moderate altitudes. STUDY RATIONALE: Several million people worldwide permanently live at moderate altitude. Due to the vast variety in heights worldwide, the altitude of the closest sleep laboratory might vary and be at a lower altitude, which may lead to underestimated results. Study impact: To our knowledge, the current study is the first to investigate the effect of a short-term descent to low altitude on sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in healthy moderate altitude residents. In this paper, we show that a short-term, low-altitude stay leads to a reduction in nocturnal hypoxemia and less sleep-associated breathing disorders, especially in males. Moreover, the proportion of severe SDB is underestimated at lower-than-living sleep laboratory assessments.
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