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The Effect of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Its Treatment on Decision Making

Conditions
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Interventions
Diagnostic Test: Computer based neurocognitive testing
Registration Number
NCT03262519
Lead Sponsor
University of California, San Diego
Brief Summary

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an extremely common disease with inadequately explored neurocognitive consequences. The investigators will study OSA patients before and after treatment to understand how OSA changes decision making abilities, and whether treatment can reverse such cognitive changes. These results could provide deeper insight into how OSA affects decision making either temporarily or permanently, and provide another rationale or motivation for treatment of OSA in adults.

Detailed Description

The investigators hypothesize that OSA will lead to (H1) more reward-seeking and lower payoffs in the Iowa Gambling task, replicating previous findings; (H2) greater discounting of future rewards in financial choices; and (H3) these effects would dissipate when OSA is successfully treated.

In order to test these hypotheses, the investigators will perform cognitive tests (Iowa gambling; intertemporal choice; other measures) in 100 patients about to undergo sleep testing. It is expected that of these 100 patients, some will have no sleep apnea; some will have sleep apnea and will be successfully treated; and that some will have sleep apnea but will not be successfully treated by the time of repeat testing. The investigators will repeat testing using the same instruments 2 months later.

Thus the investigators will be able to compare whether OSA patients differ from control at baseline (t1), and whether OSA patients' performance will improve after treatment at t2, compared to the control at t2.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
UNKNOWN
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
96
Inclusion Criteria

Subjects aged 18-75 referred to the UCSD Sleep clinic for either home or in-laboratory testing will be considered for inclusion in the study. Inclusion will not depend on gender, race or ethnicity, as per the following:

  1. 100 participants will be enrolled at the UCSD Sleep Clinic at Chancellor Park.
  2. Ages 18-75
  3. Gender: Men and woman
  4. Ethnic background: All
  5. Health Status: to the UCSD Sleep clinic for either home or in-laboratory testing
Exclusion Criteria
  1. Ongoing CPAP treatment for OSA
  2. Inability to use a tablet device (e.g. no reading glasses, or unfamiliar with devices).
  3. Severe cardiopulmonary disorder that requires treatment with supplemental oxygen therapy.
  4. Inability to speak English fluently, as some of the questionnaires/tests are only validated in English.

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Patients at UCSD Sleep Medicine ClinicComputer based neurocognitive testingPatients referred for sleep testing (either home sleep testing or in-lab full polysomnography) will be approached for participation.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in Iowa Gambling Task2 months (baseline, 2 months later)

The Iowa Gambling Task is a psychological task thought to simulate real-life decision making. It is completed on a computer and takes about 10 minutes. It is widely used in research on cognition.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in Intertemporal Choice2 months (baseline, 2 months later)

Intertemporal choice is the study of how people make choices about what and how much to do at various points in time, when choices at one time influence the possibilities available at other points in time. These choices are influenced by the relative value people assign to two or more payoffs at different points in time. It takes about 3 minutes to complete.

Change in Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT)2 months (baseline, 2 months later)

The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) is a task designed to measure a person's tendency to override an incorrect "gut" response and engage in further reflection to find a correct answer. It takes about 3 minutes to complete.

Change in Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART)2 months (baseline, 2 months later)

The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) is a computerized measure of risk taking behavior. The BART models real-world risk behavior through the conceptual frame of balancing the potential for reward versus loss. It takes less than 2 minute to complete.

Change in Epworth Sleepiness Score2 months (baseline, 2 months later)

An 11 item questionnaire that is commonly used to assess for excessive daytime sleepiness (range 0-24 points, \>10 considered excessively sleepy).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of California, San Diego

🇺🇸

San Diego, California, United States

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