Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVES: The definition and the criteria for the successful treatment of obstructive sleep apnea vary, depending on the study. This study aimed to compare different success criteria of non-continuous positive airway pressure (non-CPAP) treatment for obstructive sleep apnea in terms of sleep quality by using cardiopulmonary coupling. METHODS: We included 98 patients who had been treated with sleep surgery or with a mandibular advancement device at our sleep clinic from January 2011 to March 2013. The success and failure groups were divided by 6 criteria that have been used in the literature. The validity of each of the 6 criteria was evaluated by cardiopulmonary coupling-based sleep quality. RESULTS: The parameters of cardiopulmonary coupling indicated that sleep quality improved with non-CPAP treatment: low-frequency coupling decreased from 57.4% ± 17.7% to 46.9% ± 16.5%, whereas high-frequency coupling increased from 30.2% ± 17.1% to 37.4% ± 16.7%. In multiple regression analysis, only the criterion of a reduction in the apnea-hypopnea index greater than 50% was significantly associated with sleep quality improvement (p = 0.016; 95% confidence interval, 1.008-1.076 in the high-frequency coupling increment; p = 0.001; 95% confidence interval, 1.025-1.099 in the low-frequency coupling decrement). CONCLUSIONS: Cardiopulmonary coupling analysis showed that a reduction in the apnea-hypopnea index of more than 50% might be the optimal criterion to determine the success or failure of non-CPAP treatment in terms of sleep quality.