Quality of life assessment of treatment with dental appliance or UPPP in patients with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnoea. A prospective randomized 1-year follow-up study

The objectives of this study were: to evaluate the change in the three qual ity of life (QOL) dimensions of vitality, contentment and sleep before inte rvention and 1 year after treatment with a dental appliance or uvulopalatop haryngoplasty (UPPP); to compare the effect of treatment between these two treatment groups on these three dimensions; and to determine the relation b etween the QOL scores and somnographic values. Ninety-five patients with mi ld to moderate obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) (AI > 5) were randomly alloca ted to either a dental appliance or UPPP treatment group. Seven patients wi thdrew after randomization but before treatment, leaving 88 patients eligib le for treatment. The patients were examined using somnography and administ ered the Minor Symptoms Evaluation-Profile (MSE-P), a QOL questionnaire, be fore and 1 year after intervention. Thirty-seven patients in the dental app liance group and 43 in the UPPP group completed the 1-year follow-up. The m ean values for the three dimensions vitality, contentment and sleep improve d significantly 1 year after intervention in the dental appliance and UPPP groups. No difference in the QOL scores at baseline was noted between the g roups. One year after intervention the UPPP group showed significantly more contentment than the dental appliance group. In contrast, vitality and sle ep dimensions did not differ between the two treatment groups. No significa nt correlations were observed between the QOL scores and somnographic value s. In conclusion, quality of life improved significantly in the dental appl iance and UPPP groups 1 year after intervention. However, the dental applia nce group showed a lower level of contentment than the UPPP group, even tho ugh the somnographic values were superior in the former group.