NASAL CONTINUOUS POSITIVE AIRWAY PRESSURE FOR NONAPNEIC SNORING

The feasibility of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) fo r heavy snoring associated with daytime sleepiness was studied in 118 consecutive patients with an apnea hypopnea index below 5. Fifty-nine of them reported daytime sleepiness in a questionnaire and were offere d treatment with nasal CPAP. Whereas 48 patients refused it, the remai ning 11(19%) accepted nasal CPAP for home therapy. Accepters and refus ers did not differ in sleep structure, but accepters had slightly more sleep-disordered breathing events per hour of sleep than refusers, Th e pressure needed to abolish snoring in these 11 patients was 7.3 +/- 1.6 cm H2O. Six months after prescription, the built-in time counters of the patients' devices were read. By dividing the hours of operation by the days since initiation of treatment, we found a mean daily use time of only 2.8 +/- 1.5 h. Nevertheless, eight patients (73%) reporte d that their sleepiness had improved with therapy, We conclude that on ly a minority of nonapneic snorers accept treatment with nasal CPAP on a long-term basis and that this subgroup is not predictable from poly somnography.