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Can positional therapy be simple, effective and well tolerated all together? A prospective study on treatment response and compliance in positional sleep apnea with a positioning pillow

Sleep and Breathing volume 22, pages 1143–1151 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

Until now, there is no clear consensus on optimal care for mild sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD) in general or for positional obstructive sleep apnea (POSA) in particular. Most proposed treatment options are either invasive and/or expensive. Positional therapy (PT) may therefore present as a valuable first-line intervention in POSA.

Methods

Twenty-eight patients presenting with POSA were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. The protocol consisted of three nights of polysomnography (PSG) in an academic sleep lab. Inclusion was based on the first PSG. During a consecutive PSG, PT was provided by means of a sleep-positioning pillow (Posiform®). The third PSG was performed after 1 month of PT. Sleepiness, fatigue, and sleep quality were assessed with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the fatigue severity scale (FSS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Function Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ) at baseline, and after 1 and at 6 months of PT alongside satisfaction and compliance ratings.

Results

Significant immediate treatment effects after one night and sustained after 1 month were observed by significant reductions of sleep in supine position (p < .001), sleep fragmentation (p < .05), apnea-hypopnea (p < .001), respiratory disturbance (p < .001), and oxygen desaturation (p < .001) indices. PSQI (p < .001), ESS (p < .005), and FOSQ (p < .001) also showed significant and persistent improvements.

Conclusions

Combined effects on sleep-related respiration and clinical symptoms were observed after PT initiation as well as after 1 month using the sleep-positioning pillow. Furthermore, reported compliance and overall satisfaction appeared to be highly concordant both at 1 month and 6 months follow-up.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank our psychologist, Ms. Monique Kentos, for her participation in subject recruitment, our assistant Ms. Margaux Crick for accepting to be our “subject in situ,” and our nursing and technical staff for their commitment.

Funding

Oscimed S.A. (Inc.)™ solely provided financial support in the form of the studied sleep positioning pillows. The sponsor had no role in the design or conduct of this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sleep Laboratory and Unit for Chronobiology U78, Brugmann University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Arthur Van Gehuchten Square 4, Building Hh, 1020, Brussels, Belgium

    Johan Newell, Olivier Mairesse & Daniel Neu

  2. Department EXTO, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (V.U.B.), Brussels, Belgium

    Olivier Mairesse

  3. Department LIFE, Royal Military Academy, Brussels, Belgium

    Olivier Mairesse

  4. UNI Neuroscience Institute, ULB 312 Faculty of Medicine and ULB 388 FMS, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Brussels, Belgium

    Olivier Mairesse & Daniel Neu

Authors
  1. Johan Newell
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  2. Olivier Mairesse
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  3. Daniel Neu
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Correspondence to Johan Newell.

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Conflict of interest

All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge, or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Newell, J., Mairesse, O. & Neu, D. Can positional therapy be simple, effective and well tolerated all together? A prospective study on treatment response and compliance in positional sleep apnea with a positioning pillow. Sleep Breath 22, 1143–1151 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-018-1650-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-018-1650-6

Keywords

  • Positional therapy
  • Sleep-related breathing disorders
  • Sleep positioning pillow
  • Positional obstructive sleep apnea