Acceptance and long-term compliance to continuous positive airway pressure in obstructive sleep apnea. A prospective study on 72 patients treated between 2004 and 2007

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) treated by continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) need to use long-term CPAP to prevent cardiovascular disease. The method of survival analysis was used to allow for long-term CPAP use in 72 patients who were prescribed a CPAP. During a mean follow-up of 22 ± 15 months, one patient died and 17 patients stopped their treatment, 29% of them in the first 6 months. In compliant patients, the median value of daily CPAP use was 4.5 hours. Kaplan Meier analysis showed that 92% of patients were still using CPAP at 6 months, 83% at 12 months and 59.9% at 3 years. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was identified as a predictor factor of long-term CPAP use (OR = 4.53, p = 0.01). CPAP is a well-accepted long-term therapy for OSAHS with 60% of patients continuing to be compliant with treatment at 3 years. © 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.