Changes in insomnia severity with advanced PAP therapy in patients with posttraumatic stress symptoms and comorbid sleep apnea: a retrospective, nonrandomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Sleep disorders frequently occur in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients. Chronic insomnia is a common feature of and criteria for the diagnosis of PTSD. Another sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), also occurs frequently in PTSD, and emerging research indicates OSA fuels chronic insomnia. Scant research has investigated the impact of OSA treatment on insomnia outcomes (Insomnia Severity Index, ISI) in trauma survivors. METHODS: OSA patients with moderately severe posttraumatic stress symptoms were studied in a retrospective chart review. Ninety-six patients who failed CPAP therapy due to expiratory pressure intolerance or complex sleep apnea or both underwent manual titration with advanced PAP modes [autobilevel (ABPAP); adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV)], which were subsequently prescribed. PAP use measured by objective data downloads divided the sample into three groups: compliant regular users (C-RU): n = 68; subthreshold users (SC-RU): n = 12; and noncompliant users (NC-MU): n = 16. The average follow-up was 11.89 ± 12.22 months. Baseline and posttreatment ISI scores were analyzed to assess residual insomnia symptoms as well as cure rates. RESULTS: The C-RU group showed significant improvements in insomnia with very large effects compared to those in the NC-MU reference group (P = 0.019). Insomnia severity significantly decreased in all three groups with large effects (C-RU, P = 0.001; SC-RU, P = 0.027; NC-MU, P = 0.007). Hours of weekly PAP use and insomnia severity were inversely correlated (P = 0.001, r = - 0.321). However, residual insomnia symptoms based on established ISI cut-offs were quite common, even among the C-RU group. Post hoc analysis showed that several categories of sedating medications reported at baseline (hypnotics, anti-epileptic, opiates) as well as actual use of any sedating medication (prescription or nonprescription) were associated with smaller insomnia improvements than those in patients not using any sedating agents. CONCLUSIONS: In a retrospective, nonrandomized analysis of a select sample of sleep clinic patients with OSA and PTSD symptoms, advanced PAP therapy was associated with significant improvement in insomnia severity for both compliant and partial users. However, residual insomnia symptoms persisted, indicating that PAP therapy provides only limited treatment. RCTs are warranted to assess the effect of ABPAP and ASV modes of therapy on adherence and sleep outcomes, and their potential impact on posttraumatic stress symptoms. Treatment arms that combine PAP with CBT-I would be expected to yield the greatest potency.

Positive airway pressure adherence and subthreshold adherence in posttraumatic stress disorder patients with comorbid sleep apnea.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Patients with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) manifest low adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) due to fixed, pressure-induced expiratory pressure intolerance (EPI), a subjective symptom and objective sign aggravated by anxiety sensitivity and somatosensory amplification. As advanced PAP therapy modes (ie, auto-bilevel PAP [ABPAP] or adaptive servo-ventilation [ASV]) may address these side effects, we hypothesized such treatment would be associated with decreased expiratory intolerance and increased adherence in posttraumatic stress patients with co-occurring OSA. METHODS: We reviewed charts of 147 consecutive adult patients with moderately severe posttraumatic stress symptoms and objectively diagnosed OSA. All patients failed or rejected CPAP and were manually titrated on auto-adjusting, dual-pressure ABPAP or ASV modes in the sleep laboratory, a technique to eliminate flow limitation breathing events while resolving EPI. Patients were then prescribed either mode of therapy. Follow-up encounters assessed patient use, and objective data downloads (ODDs) measured adherence. RESULTS: Of 147 charts reviewed, 130 patients were deemed current PAP users, and 102 provided ODDs: 64 used ASV and 38 used ABPAP. ODDs yielded three groups: 59 adherent per insurance conventions, 19 subthreshold compliant partial users, and 24 noncompliant. Compliance based on available downloads was 58%, notably higher than recently reported rates in PTSD patients with OSA. Among the 19 partial users, 17 patients were minutes of PAP use or small percentages of nights removed from meeting insurance compliance criteria for PAP devices. CONCLUSION: Research is warranted on advanced PAP modes in managing CPAP failure in PTSD patients with comorbid OSA. Subthreshold adherence constructs may inform clinical care in a patient-centric model distinct from insurance conventions. Speculatively, clinical application of this transitional zone ("subthreshold" number of hours) may increase PAP use and eventual adherence.