Assessment of the Compliance and Usability of the Nexus (S9) CPAP System in Sleep Disordered Breathing

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is a condition characterised by the partial or complete collapse of the upper airway during sleep. OSA comprises a continuous spectrum of severity ranging from simple snoring and upper airway resistance through mild to severe symptomatic obstructive hypopnoea and apnoea. The prevalence of sleep disordered breathing in the adult population is 24% males and 9% for females. The prevalence of symptomatic OSA in the adult population has been estimated to be 4% in males and 2% in females. These patients demonstrate behavioural and neuropsychological consequences to varying degrees, including excessive daytime sleepiness, intellectual deterioration and depression. More serious consequences include arterial systemic hypertension, arterial pulmonary hypertension and heart disease.

The treatment of choice for OSA is Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP). CPAP acts as a positive airway splint, delivering a fixed positive airway pressure to the upper airway via a tube and mask. Humidification is used during CPAP therapy to improve comfort of the delivered air and alleviate nasal dryness/congestion.

Compliance with CPAP is a known issue which is affected by many things, including negative side effects and issues with the equipment. The most common complaints involve nasal dryness/congestion and noise from the machine.

The purpose of this study is to assess whether the improved humidification system, reduced noise, improved comfort of breathing and new user interface on the Nexus (S9) CPAP will improve compliance.

Aims: