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CPAP helps keep COPD patients out of hospitals, study shows

CPAP helps keep COPD patients out of hospitals, study shows

TUCSON, Ariz. - Although PAP therapy is associated with a reduction in hospitalization for COPD patients, more than 92% of patients are not receiving the therapy, according to a recently published study funded by Royal Philips. The retrospective study, led by Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy, professor of medicine and interim chief of Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, revealed that only 7.5% of the more than 1.8 million COPD patients analyzed were receiving any form of PAP therapy. Data from the reviewed administrative claims suggest that individuals receiving either BiPAP, CPAP or non-invasive positive pressure ventilation therapy experienced lower hospitalization risk than before therapy initiation, as well as lower hospital risk than those who did not receive any positive airway pressure therapy at all. “Frequent readmissions of COPD patients not only disrupt their quality of life, but are costing our health systems billions,” says Parthasarathy. “This analysis revealed that there is a solution already accessible within our toolbox that can keep patients out of the hospital, but it is significantly underutilized. With improved awareness and implementation of PAP therapy as a treatment for COPD, we can lower the cost burden for health systems while allowing patients to recover in the comfort of their own homes.”

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