Novel physIologiC prEdictors of Positive Airway Pressure Effectiveness

Millions of Americans suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, strokes and motor vehicle accidents due to ineffective treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Our preliminary data suggest that physiological causes of OSA such as easy arousability (low arousal threshold) or unstable breathing control (high loop gain) may influence effectiveness of OSA's most common treatment, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). The NICE-PAP study will examine how the physiologic traits that cause OSA in each individual impact CPAP effectiveness and can lead to personalized OSA treatments that improve patient lives.

Most patients with OSA who are prescribed the gold-standard therapy, CPAP, are ineffectively treated. This is due to 1) poor CPAP adherence, 2) high residual apnea in 20% of users (low efficacy) and 3) inconsistent symptom improvement. To improve CPAP effectiveness, we propose to address novel physiologic targets that cause OSA in each individual: arousability (arousal threshold), ventilatory control sensitivity (loop gain) and pharyngeal muscle compensation. Our overall objective is to determine the contribution of these traits to CPAP effectiveness independently of established biological, psychological and social predictors. This study leverages state-of-the art sleep study analysis tools and validated measures of the determinants of CPAP effectiveness to create a pragmatic, prospective cohort (n=267) of OSA patients. This unique dataset will help determine whether physiologic causes of OSA influence CPAP adherence, efficacy, sleep quality, symptoms, function and quality of life. The results will inform design and conduct of a randomized clinical trial designed to modify physiologic traits such as easy arousability to improve CPAP effectiveness and other patient-centered outcomes in OSA patients.