Study: CPAP for elderly patients not as effective

COLUMBIA, Mo. – CPAP therapy may not be as effective for patients older than 80, say researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine. In a study published in Sleep Medicine, researchers studied 369 participants over the age of 70 with OSA and assigned roughly half to receive CPAP therapy for three months. Researchers used several metrics to compare both groups, including a subjective measure of a patient’s sleepiness, the effect of CPAP on sleep-related quality of life, the effect on anxiety and depression, and impact on blood pressure levels. They further subdivided the results by those older and younger than 80. “Our findings suggest that CPAP treatment is not as effective in patients over 80 years of age with OSA when compared to younger patients,” says Dr. David Gozal, senior author, and the Marie M. and Harry L. Smith Endowed Chair of Child Health at the MU School of Medicine. “We did not see any improvements in OSA-related symptoms, quality-of-life metrics, mood-related symptoms, or blood pressure compared to the group that did not receive CPAP treatment.”