Aim. To assess the impact of adherence and effectiveness of long-term positive airway pressure therapy (PAP-therapy) on the clinical and psychological characteristics of patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
Materials and methods. The study included 80 patients who were examined in the sleep apnea laboratory of the Myasnikov Institute of Clinical Cardiology of the National Medical Research Center for Cardiology and who have been on PAP-therapy for more than 12 months. The average age of the patients was 65.0 years [59.0; 71.0], body mass index 35.0 kg/m2 [31.0; 38.0], sleep apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) 39.5/h [31.0; 62.6]. The average duration of PAP therapy was 3.5 years [2.0; 6.0], while the minimum use was 1 year, the maximum 15 years. In the sample of patients who came in person, the percentage of days using PAP-therapy was 87.5% [62.0; 98.0] and the average usage time 6.3 hours [5.2; 7.3].
Results. On long-term PAP-therapy a persistent decrease in AHI was seen on average from 39.5/h [31.0; 62.6] to 2.7/h [1.2; 6.2], p=0,000. The criteria for good adherence to PAP-therapy (use 4 hours/night, more than 70% of nights) were met by the percentage of days of use by 67.5% of patients, the average time of use by 87.5% of patients. Both criteria for good adherence to PAP-therapy was met by 64.8% of patients. With long-term PAP-therapy, 71.7% of patients met the criteria of effectiveness (AHI5/h), AHI remained 5/h in 22.9% of patients and the average residual AHI was 10/h in 5.4% of patients. Correlation analysis showed associations between the PAP-therapy usage parameters and the severity of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, and sleep quality: percentage of days of use and AHI (r=0.374, p=0.001), average time of use and PSQI (r=-0.438, p=0.000). Patients with a lower adherence to PAP-therapy (63.0% of days [22.0; 96.0] and 3.6 hours [2.4; 4.5] of use) did not differ in daytime sleepiness (ESS 5.0 points [2.0; 9.0] and 5.0 points [3.0; 8.0 ], p=0.891), but had a significantly lower quality of sleep (PSQI): 18.0 points [14.0; 20.0] versus 10.0 points [7.0; 18.0], p=0.004 compared with patients with high adherence to PAP-therapy (98.0% of the days [92.0; 99.0] and 7.9 hours [7.5; 8.2] of use).
Conclusions. Patients with the higher adherence to PAP-therapy had significantly better sleep quality. But even the use of PAP-therapy for less than 4 hours is associated with a decrease in daytime sleepiness severity.
Effects of long-term treatment on brain volume in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome
