TUESDAY, March 5, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- A new guideline, published Feb. 15 in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, establishes clinical practice recommendations for positive airway pressure (PAP) treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in adults.
Susheel P. Patil, M.D., Ph.D., from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues on the American Academy of Sleep Medicine task force conducted a systematic literature review and assessed the evidence to inform the recommendations based on expert consensus.
The authors strongly recommend that PAP, rather than no therapy, is used to treat OSA in adults with excessive sleepiness; that PAP therapy is initiated using either auto-adjusting PAP at home or in-laboratory PAP titration in adults with OSA and no significant comorbidities; and that clinicians use either continuous PAP or auto-adjusting PAP for ongoing treatment of OSA in adults. The authors also strongly recommend that educational interventions be given with initiation of PAP therapy in adults with OSA. Conditional recommendations include that behavioral and/or troubleshooting interventions as well as telemonitoring-guided interventions be used during the initial period of PAP therapy in adults with OSA.
"We hope the guideline provides the rationale for providers, health systems, and payors to establish programs that promote early and sustained adherence to PAP therapy for the benefit of patients experiencing the consequences of obstructive sleep apnea," Patil said in a statement.
One author receives royalties from patents held on some PAP devices; another author disclosed financial ties to Bayer Pharmaceuticals.
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