Adherence Index: sleep depth and nocturnal hypoventilation predict long-term adherence with positive airway pressure therapy in severe obstructive sleep apnea.

Study Objectives: Treatment of obstructive sleep apnea with positive airway pressure (PAP) devices is limited by poor long-term adherence. Early identification of individual patients' probability of long-term PAP adherence would help in their management. We determined whether conventional polysomnogram (PSG) scoring and measures of sleep depth based on the odds ratio product would predict adherence with PAP therapy 12 months after it was started.

Methods: Patients with obstructive sleep apnea referred to an academic sleep center had split-night PSG, arterial blood gases, and a sleep questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analysis of conventional PSG scoring and the odds ratio product both during diagnostic PSG and PAP titration provided an "Adherence Index," which was correlated with PAP use 12 months later.

Results: Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (n = 236, apnea-hypopnea index 72.2 ± 34.1 events/h) were prescribed PAP therapy (82% received continuous PAP, 18% received bilevel PAP). Each patient's adherence with PAP therapy 12 months later was categorized as "never used," "quit using," "poor adherence," and "good adherence." PSG measures that were most strongly correlated with PAP adherence were apnea-hypopnea index and odds ratio product during nonrapid eye movement sleep; the additional contribution of nocturnal hypoxemia to this correlation was confined to those with chronic hypoventilation treated with bilevel PAP. The Adherence Index derived from these measures, during both diagnostic PSG and PAP titration, was strongly correlated with PAP adherence 12 months later.

Conclusions: Long-term adherence with PAP therapy can be predicted from diagnostic PSG in patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea, which may facilitate a precision-based approach to PAP management.

Citation: Younes MK, Beaudin AE, Raneri JK, Gerardy BJ, Hanly PJ. Adherence Index: sleep depth and nocturnal hypoventilation predict long-term adherence with positive airway pressure therapy in severe obstructive sleep apnea. 2022:18(8):1933-1944.