Continuous positive airway pressure reduces subjective daytime sleepiness in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease with sleep disordered breathing.

OBJECTIVES

Studies have reported that 33% to 70% of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment has been shown to reduce daytime sleepiness and improve health-related quality of life in nondemented older people with SDB. The effect of therapeutic CPAP treatment on daytime sleepiness in patients with mild-moderate AD with SDB was assessed.

DESIGN

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

SETTING

Patients' home and the University of California San Diego, General Clinical Research Center, J. Christian Gillin Laboratory of Sleep and Chronobiology.

PARTICIPANTS

Thirty-nine community-dwelling elderly patients with mild-moderate probable AD with SDB.

INTERVENTION

Patients were randomly assigned to receive 6 weeks of therapeutic CPAP or 3 weeks of sham CPAP followed by 3 weeks of therapeutic CPAP.

MEASUREMENTS

Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was administered at baseline, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks. Changes in daytime sleepiness in subjects who received optimal therapeutic CPAP were compared with changes in the sham CPAP group.

RESULTS

Within the therapeutic CPAP group, ESS scores were reduced from 8.89 during baseline to 6.56 after 3 weeks of treatment (P=.04) and to 5.53 after 6 weeks of treatment (P=.004). In the sham CPAP group, there was no significant difference after 3 weeks of sham CPAP but a significant decrease from 7.68 to 6.47 (P=.01) after 3 weeks of therapeutic CPAP.

CONCLUSION

These data provide evidence of the effectiveness of CPAP in reducing subjective daytime sleepiness in patients with AD with SDB.