June 23, 2006

SLEEP: Treatment for Apnea Needs Follow-Up Fine Tuning

SLEEP: Treatment for Apnea Needs Follow-Up Fine Tuning - CME Teaching Brief - MedPage Today

Review
Carl Stepnowsky, Ph.D.
SALT LAKE CITY, June 22 — Adherence to treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) by patients with obstructive sleep apnea may be considerably less than believed.

A retrospective analysis of 528 new users of CPAP machines showed that only 17% were using them as prescribed, said Carl Stepnowsky, Ph.D., of the University of California at San Diego.

Another 63% "are below what we would usually consider to be acceptable, which is four hours a night," he reported here at Sleep 2006, the joint meeting of the Sleep Research Society and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Posted by gruwell at June 23, 2006 6:51 AM | TrackBack