Background

Treating sleep disordered breathing (SDB) with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) may reduce mortality, but the studies on the effect on medication use are few. Women tend to have more mild sleep apnoea and partial airway obstruction and are therefore expected to have less co-morbidity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of CPAP therapy on medication use in women as overall medication, and in different subcategories of diseases, and to evaluate the impact of nocturnal airway obstruction type as partial or complete.

Methods

From the database of the Department of Pulmonary Diseases in Turku University Hospital from 1994 to 1998, 601 consecutive females with SDB were enrolled, and the type of SDB was evaluated. All were offered CPAP therapy. The medication use measured as defined daily doses (DDD) in overall medication and in nine subcategories were collected three years before and three years after CPAP initiation.

Results

In final analyses, 182 women were included. In CPAP users (n = 66), comorbidities were more frequent and DDDs higher overall, in asthma, in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and in severe mental disorders, both before and after CPAP initiation. The medication use was similar regardless of the type of SDB. The change in medication use was similar as in controls.

Conclusions

CPAP therapy did not decrease medication use in three-year follow-up. However, possibly continuous rise in medication use was prevented, as the change in medication use was similar in controls. Complete and partial obstruction had similar effects.

中文翻译：

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长期CPAP治疗期间睡眠呼吸障碍的女性合并症的治疗。

背景

用鼻持续气道正压通气（CPAP）治疗睡眠呼吸障碍（SDB）可以降低死亡率，但有关药物使用效果的研究很少。妇女倾向于有轻度的睡眠呼吸暂停和部分气道阻塞，因此预期合并症较少。这项研究的目的是评估CPAP疗法对妇女作为整体药物以及在不同疾病子类别中的药物使用的影响，并评估夜间气道阻塞类型为部分或完全的影响。

方法

从1994年至1998年间，在图尔库大学医院肺病科的数据库中，连续纳入601名患有SDB的女性，并对SDB的类型进行了评估。所有患者均接受CPAP治疗。在CPAP启动前三年和三年后，按总体用药和九个子类别中定义的日剂量（DDD）来衡量用药情况。

结果

在最终分析中，包括182名妇女。在CPAP发起前后，哮喘，慢性阻塞性肺疾病和严重精神障碍患者中，合并CPAP的使用者（n = 66）更常见，且DDDs更高。不论SDB的类型如何，药物的使用都是相似的。药物使用的变化与对照组相似。

结论

在三年的随访中，CPAP治疗并未减少用药。但是，由于对照组的用药变化相似，因此可能阻止了用药的持续增加。完全和部分阻塞具有相似的效果。