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HealthDay News — An interdisciplinary weight loss and lifestyle intervention is associated with clinically meaningful and sustainable improvements in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity and health-related quality of life, according to a study published online April 22 in JAMA Network Open.
Almudena Carneiro-Barrera, PhD, from the University of Granada in Spain, and colleagues randomly assigned 89 men (aged 18 to 65 years) with moderate-to-severe OSA and body mass index ≥25 kg/m² who were receiving continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy to an 8-week interdisciplinary weight loss and lifestyle intervention plus usual care or usual care alone.
The researchers found that the intervention group had a greater decrease in the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI; 51% reduction; −21.2 events/hour) than the control group (change, 2.5 events/hour). The reduction in AHI at 6 months postintervention was 57% in the intervention group, with a mean between-group difference of −23.8 events/hour. At the end point, 18 of 40 participants in the intervention group no longer required CPAP therapy and 6 achieved complete OSA remission, while at 6 months, 21 of 34 participants no longer required CPAP therapy and 10 achieved complete remission. Greater improvements in body weight were seen in the intervention group versus control group (change, −7.1 kg versus −0.3 kg); greater improvements were also seen for change in fat mass (−2.9 kg versus 1.4 kg), cardiometabolic risk, and health-related quality of life.
“This approach may therefore be considered as a central strategy to address the substantial impact of this increasingly common sleep-disordered breathing condition,” the authors write.
