Does oral appliance efficacy in treating obstructive sleep apnea depend on the appliance specialist's experience?
Sleep Breath
; 28(1): 555-560, 2024 Mar.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37676348
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
In France, oral appliances (OAs) are the first-line treatment for moderate and second-line treatment for severe obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome. In general, the sleep specialist refers his/her patient to the appliance specialist for the impressions and the fitting. However, is there a relationship between the volume of activity of the appliance specialist and the efficacy of this device?METHODS:
Our unit includes seven appliance otolaryngology specialists whose activities are highly variable (number of patients varying by a factor of almost 10). Data from a prospective follow-up registry of patients treated with an OA for moderate and severe obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome were studied, and differences in outcomes between practitioners in the team were sought.RESULTS:
Among 859 patients, OAs significantly reduced the apnea-hypopnea index. Even if the patients were not completely comparable from one practitioner to another, there was a significant heterogeneity in efficacy (complete or partial response of the apnea-hypopnea index and failure of OAs) between practitioners (p = 0.0038; 0.0011; 0.0007 respectively), with better results in practitioners with a higher level of OA activity.CONCLUSION:
The findings suggest that it may be preferable to refer patients to OA practitioners who see a higher volume of patients with moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome treated with an OA.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Avanço Mandibular
/
Apneia Obstrutiva do Sono
Limite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article