Purpose: Epidemiological studies have revealed significant associations between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and thyroid disorders, but discrepancies and contradictory results remain in some studies. Given the limited research currently available on this topic, this article aims to review the relationship between OSA and thyroid diseases.
Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and The Cochrane Library were searched for the most recent literature on the correlation, mechanism, and treatment of OSA with various thyroid disorders for the last 10 years up to December 5, 2024.
Results: There is a bidirectional association between OSA and thyroid disease. On the one hand, OSA not only increases the incidence of thyroid disorders, but also aggravates the severity of thyroid disorders, thereby negatively affecting treatment outcomes and prognosis; on the other hand, certain thyroid disorders may in turn promote the development of OSA.
Conclusion: OSA is closely associated with the development of thyroid disease, but the specific mechanism is not clear. Effective treatments for thyroid disease combined with OSA need to be further investigated.
Keywords: Hypothyroidism; Obstructive sleep apnea; Thyroid eye disease; Thyroid neoplasms; Thyroid nodule.
© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.