A Study Prospectively Examined Whether Sleep-Disordered Breathing Was Associated with an Increased

A study prospectively examined whether sleep-disordered breathing was associated with an increased risk of death from any cause in 6294 men and women participating in the Sleep Heart Health Study. Study participants were classified into four groups depending on the extent of their sleep-disordered breathing (none, mild, moderate, or severe) . The counts of deaths over the course of the study are reported for each group in the following two-way table:
$$\begin{array}{l}\begin{array} { | l | r r r r | } \hline &&& { \text { sleep-disordered breathing } } \\& \text { none } & \text { mild } & \text { moderate } & \text { severe } &\text { total } \\\hline \text { death } & 476 & 320 & 165 & 86 &1047\\\text { no death } & 2953 & 1477 & 562 & 255 &5247\\\hline \text { total } & 3429 & 1797 & 727 & 341 \\\hline\end{array}\\\begin{array} { l } \end{array}\end{array}$$ Based on this study, what can you conclude?

A) Sleep-disordered breathing causes death from asphyxiation.
B) Sleep-disordered breathing is a major cause of death.
C) There is no association between the severity of sleep-disordered breathing and death from any cause.
D) There is an association between the severity of sleep-disordered breathing and death from any cause.