Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) Promotion And Prognosis - the Army Sleep Apnea Program (ASAP)

CPAP is the treatment of choice for patients with OSA. However, patients are frequently intolerant of this therapy initially. After continued use, tolerance is achieved. However, this initial discomfort or intolerance frequently leads to a patient-initiated discontinuation of therapy. It has been shown that CPAP use at 1 month predicts use at 6 months and 1 year. Patients who initially struggle with or are intolerant of CPAP frequently abandon therapy and are unlikely to use it long term. To prevent this, sleep physicians often prescribe short courses of sedatives to help improve initial tolerance and promote better compliance with therapy. However, the effectiveness of this practice has not been validated in a clinical trial. Compliance, in reference to this study is the willingness of the patients to follow the prescribed course of treatment.

Inclusion criteria

• Adult patients
• Newly diagnosed with OSA who are prescribed CPAP therapy

Exclusion criteria

• Patients < 18 years old
• Patients over 65 years
• Pregnant women
• Patients with chronic liver disease
• Patients who abuse alcohol
• Patients taking narcotics or using sedative-hypnotic agents such as Ambien, Klonopin or Benadryl