Auto-adjusting positive airway pressure treatment for sleep apnea diagnosed by home sleep testing.

STUDY OBJECTIVES

Compare auto-adjusting positive airway pressure (APAP) treatment with positive airway pressure (PAP) titration by polysomnography (PSG) followed by CPAP treatment in patients diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) by home sleep apnea testing (HSAT).

DESIGN

Prospective randomized treatment study.

SETTING

Tertiary Veterans Administration Medical Center.

PARTICIPANTS

156 patients diagnosed with OSA by HSAT (apneahypopnea index [AHI] ≥ 10/h) suitable for APAP treatment.

INTERVENTIONS

APAP arm: Treatment with an APAP device, CPAP arm: PSG PAP titration followed by CPAP treatment.

MEASUREMENTS

Mean PAP adherence, Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ).

RESULTS

The mean (± SD) age, BMI, and diagnostic AHI (APAP: 28.6 ± 18.5, CPAP: 28.3 ± 16.0/h, p = NS) did not differ between the study arms. After 6 weeks of treatment, 84.6% of 78 patients started on APAP and 84.3% of 70 patients started on CPAP (8 declined treatment after the titration) were using PAP, p = NS. The 90% APAP and level of CPAP were similar (10.8 ± 3.1, 11.7 ± 2.5 cm H2O, p = 0.07). The average nightly PAP use did not differ (APAP: 4.45 ± 2.3, CPAP: 4.0 ± 2.3 h, p = NS). The improvements in the ESS (APAP: -4.2 ± 4.7, CPAP: -3.7 ± 4.8, p = NS) and in the FOSQ (APAP: 2.6 ± 3.5, CPAP: 2.2 ± 3.7, p = NS) were not different.

CONCLUSIONS

Following diagnosis of OSA by HSAT, treatment with APAP results in equivalent PAP adherence and improvement in sleepiness compared to a PSG titration and CPAP treatment.

COMMENTARY

A commentary on this article appears in this issue on page 1277.