ABSTRACT
Sleep related breathing disorders (especially sleep apnea syndrome--SAS) limit the patient through deteriorated nocturnal sleep, insufficient wakefulness, daytime inefficiency and tiredness including a cognitive impairment, through higher rate of road accidents, higher co morbidity, through impaired quality of life and higher mortality. The society pays for the SAS patient higher medical costs and other expenses related to the accidents, co morbidity and lower professional productivity.
Subject(s)
Quality of Life , Sleep Apnea Syndromes/psychology , Cost of Illness , Humans , Sleep Apnea Syndromes/economicsABSTRACT
Noninvasive pulmonary ventilation in home care with the help of BiPAP machine improves the quality of patients' lives suffering from very serious respiratory insufficiency. This statement we prove by the group of 15 patients using noninvasive ventilation in home care.
Subject(s)
Home Care Services , Positive-Pressure Respiration , Respiratory Insufficiency/therapy , Chronic Disease , Humans , Oxygen Inhalation TherapyABSTRACT
In the Czech Republic, for ten million inhabitants there are eight sleep laboratories (two neurological, one otorhinolaryngological and five pneumological), equipped with twelve units monitoring four or eight parameters. The first OSAS laboratory was established in 1991. In 1994, health insurance began providing patients with CPAP and doctors began publicising sleep syndromes. Since 1994, 3,860 patients were examined. Patients were referred: by general practitioners (34%), by otorhinolaryngologists (16%), by pneumologists (15%) or by neurologists (12%) and 24% came voluntarily. The ratio was eight men to one woman. Nearly all came because partners requested it. Of the 3,860 examined, 740 (around 19%) began using CPAP. The criteria for using CPAP are following: an oxygen saturation in the blood below 90% for more than 20% of the sleeping period. In very serious cases BiPAP was used (27 patients--0.7%). 185 patients (4.8%) underwent surgery on soft palate.
