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Adherence and Preference of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Versus Mandibular Advancement Splints in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients: A Randomized Trial

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Interventions
Device: Positive Airway Pressure (PAP)
Device: Mandibular Advancement Splints (MAS)
Registration Number
NCT02242617
Lead Sponsor
University of British Columbia
Brief Summary

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a major health problem affecting over 1,000,000 Canadians. It is the cause of significant healthcare costs with increased morbidity and mortality. The two most common and effective therapies used to treat OSA are: (1) Continuous or Automatic Positive Airway Pressure (PAP), and (2) Mandibular Advancement Splints (MAS). While both therapies reduce upper airway collapse during sleep, they differ in efficacy, acceptance, cost and side-effects, but surprisingly are similar in improving quality of life, sleepiness and blood pressure. PAP is more effective in reducing apneas while MAS is easier to use. Until now, studies have used self-reported adherence data on MAS versus objective adherence on PAP. Many studies have hypothesized that the sub-optimal efficacy with MAS therapy is counterbalanced by the superior adherence relative to PAP, resulting in a similar effectiveness for both treatments. Compliance smart chips are a recent innovation for MAS and could be used to prove this hypothesis and allow a new and complete comparison of effectiveness (efficacy + adherence) between MAS and PAP. Understanding the patient's objective adherence and long-term symptomatic improvement would provide vital information to doctors and dentists in choosing the right treatment for patients. Sixty OSA patients will receive both PAP and MAS in a random sequence. This innovative study lead by two experienced new investigators, and a research team of multidisciplinary experts, will assess objective adherence, treatment efficacy, patient preference, sleepiness and quality of life of each treatment used at home for 1 month per treatment. After this, patients will be able to go back and forth between both treatments during an additional 6-month period. The results of this study will be used by healthcare policy makers as well as clinicians who need to be part of the treatment plan decision for the many Canadians who suffer from sleep apnea.

Detailed Description

The primary aim of this study is to assess objective adherence to treatment, for PAP and MAS, and to evaluate if there will be similar effectiveness (efficacy+adherence) between PAP and MAS treatment for patients with mild to severe OSA. The secondary aim is to assess if patient preference does correlate to the final treatment adherence. An exploratory aim is to assess if the strategy of patients having both treatments available to use interchangeably could further improve treatment adherence, sleepiness, quality of life and fatigue. Having a better insight into patient adherence will improve the cost-effectiveness of treatment and will improve the health and quality of life for many Canadians who suffer from sleep apnea.

The proposed trial is a randomized open-label, two-treatment, two-period cross-over trial followed by an observational trial. Sixty OSA patients (10≤AHI≤50) will receive both PAP and MAS. As a recent innovation, we have adherence monitors for MAS that can give a new and comprehensive comparative analysis of the effectiveness between MAS and PAP. In the randomized trial phase the two treatments will be used separately for 1 month each (after treatment adaptation/titration of 1-2 months for each device). Treatment efficacy and daily treatment use data will be assessed together with changes in symptoms (quality of life, sleepiness and fatigue). Patient initial preference will be determined by using a patient decision aid. This will be followed by the observational trial phase, where all patients will have access to both interventions at home for 6 months and be allowed to choose on a daily basis the intervention to use. The intervention duration of 6 months is to allow for a sustained response in long-term adherence and to observe changes in quality of life.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
79
Inclusion Criteria

You may be able to participate in this study if:

  • You are naïve to treatment (never used CPAP or oral appliance, nor had surgery for sleep apnea);

  • You are between 19-75 years old;

  • You have a Body Mass Index (BMI) ≤ 35;

  • You have enough teeth (at least 8 per arch) for MAS;

  • You have:

    • an Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) within the range 10 ≤ AHI ≤ 50 documented with polysomnography in the last 2 years; ***OR***
    • a Respiratory Disturbance Index (RDI) within the range 20 ≤ RDI ≤ 50 documented with level III portable sleep test; ***OR***
    • an Oxygen Desaturation Index (ODI) ≥ 10; and
  • You have had a sleep test within the past 2 years.

Exclusion Criteria

You may not be able to participate in this study if:

  • You have extensive periodontal disease with significant tooth mobility (disease around your teeth);
  • You are unable to protrude the jaw (unable to extend your jaw);
  • You have a lack of a sufficient vertical opening to accommodate an appliance;
  • You have uncontrolled congestive heart failure (defined as a prior clinical diagnosis, an ejection cutoff of 40% or a clinical sign in the opinion of a primary care physician or cardiologist) that makes it unsafe for you to participate in the trial in the opinion of the investigators;
  • You have coronary artery disease unless stable for at least 6 months and considered by the investigators to have a stable disease;
  • You have a history of angina (chest pain when your heart does not get enough blood), myocardial infarction (heart attack) or stroke;
  • You have a history of major depressive disorder (such as bipolar disorder) along with current moderate or severe disease;
  • You have cancer unless in remission (decreasing signs of your cancer being present) for more than 1 year;
  • You have known renal (kidney) failure with need for dialysis;
  • You are pregnant (if a female participant becomes pregnant during the trial, she will be withdrawn from the study);
  • You have had a near miss or prior automobile accident due to sleepiness within the past 12 months; and/or
  • At nighttime, 30% of the night is at ≤ 90% oxygen saturation levels.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
CROSSOVER
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
PAP-MASMandibular Advancement Splints (MAS)Positive airway pressure (PAP): a device which consists of a face mask attached to a plastic tube and a machine that blows compressed air through a patient's airway during sleep to keep the airway open; followed by mandibular advancement splints (MAS)
PAP-MASPositive Airway Pressure (PAP)Positive airway pressure (PAP): a device which consists of a face mask attached to a plastic tube and a machine that blows compressed air through a patient's airway during sleep to keep the airway open; followed by mandibular advancement splints (MAS)
MAS-PAPPositive Airway Pressure (PAP)Mandibular advancement splints (MAS): dental splints used to keep the mandible in an advanced position opening the upper airway during sleep; followed by positive airway pressure (PAP)
MAS-PAPMandibular Advancement Splints (MAS)Mandibular advancement splints (MAS): dental splints used to keep the mandible in an advanced position opening the upper airway during sleep; followed by positive airway pressure (PAP)
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Objectively measured adherence (hours/night and nights/week of intervention use).At 6 months of using both treatments interchangeably

Measuring changes in objectively measured adherence (hours/night and nights/week of intervention use), indicated by the smart chips and symptoms.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
SF-36 survey responses.At 6 months of using both treatments interchangeably.

Measuring changes in SF-36 survey responses which assesses general health status.

Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ) responses.At 1 month in CPAP treatment arm

Measuring changes in Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ) responses to evaluate disease specific quality of life.

Chalder fatigue scale questionnaire responsesAt 6 months of using both treatments interchangeably.

Measuring changes in responses to the Chalder fatigue scale which assesses fatigue in the present state.

SF-36 survey responsesAt baseline

Measuring SF-36 survey responses which assesses general health status.

Apnea-hypopnea indexAt 1 month in CPAP treatment arm

Measuring changes in apnea-hypopnea index (events/hour of sleep from Stardust-Phillips Respironics) to measure intervention efficacy (e.g. AHI)

Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) questionnaire responses.At 6 months of using both treatments interchangeably.

Measuring changes in responses to Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) Questionnaire to compare daytime sleepiness.

Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ) responsesAt 6 months of using both treatments interchangeably

Measuring changes in Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ) responses to evaluate disease specific quality of life.

Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) questionnaire responsesAt 1 month of using both treatments interchangeably

Measuring changes in responses to Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) Questionnaire to compare daytime sleepiness.

Trial Locations

Locations (3)

University of British Columbia

🇨🇦

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

University of Montreal / Université de Montréal

🇨🇦

Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Laval University / Université Laval

🇨🇦

Québec, Canada

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