Brief ReportsAdherence to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Treatment in Patients With Alzheimer Disease and Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Section snippets
Subjects
Thirty patients (23 male; 94% white; mean age: 78.4 years, standard deviation [SD]: 6.8, range: 53–91; mean body mass index: 24.7, SD: 3.7, range: 20.4–40.7; mean education: 14.8 years, SD: 3.1, range: 8–20) participated in a larger study evaluating the effect of CPAP on cognitive functioning in patients with mild-to-moderate AD and OSA. Patients were recruited from the University of California San Diego, CA (UCSD) Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC), advertisements, and referrals. All
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
To our knowledge, this is the first study to suggest that patients with AD who have OSA can use CPAP with reasonable adherence. Adherence with CPAP therapy in uncomplicated OSA has been marginal at best. It was surprising that the average number of hours of CPAP use per night in the patients with AD, 4.8 hours, was not very different from the number of hours reported in sleep disorders clinic patients.5 Because there can be beneficial effects of treating OSA on the cardiovascular system, mood,
References (10)
- et al.
Sleep disordered breathing and agitation in institutionalized adults with Alzheimer's disease
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry
(2003) - et al.
Neuropsychological changes and treatment compliance in older adults with sleep apnea
J Psychosom Res
(2003) - et al.
Indications for positive airway pressure treatment of adult obstructive sleep apnea patients—a consensus statement
Chest
(1999) - et al.
Determinants of nasal CPAP compliance
Sleep Med
(2002) - et al.
Cornell scale for depression in dementia
Biol Psychiatry
(1988)
Cited by (0)
The authors acknowledge support from National Institue on Aging AG08415, National Institute of Mental Health 5 T32 MH18399-17, National Institute of Health General Clinical Research Center M01 RR00827, National Institute of Aging P50 AG05131, Veterans Affairs Health Services Research & Development Service 02-275, and the research service of the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System.