Health Preference Measures in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome Undergoing Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Therapy: Data from a Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: In patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), the preference-based, health-related quality of life in terms of utility has not been extensively studied. OBJECTIVE: To address this point, we compared the performance of different instruments assessing utility in patients with OSAS undergoing continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data of 208 patients with OSAS (28 women, mean ± SE age 54.4 ± 0.7 years, apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) 51.9 ± 1.8/h, Epworth sleepiness score 13.4 ± 0.2) participating in a randomized trial of different CPAP modalities over 2 years were analyzed. Evaluations included sleep studies, Epworth sleepiness scale, and several utility instruments that measure subjective health preference on a scale ranging from 1 (most preferred and perfect health) to 0 (least preferred and very poor health). RESULTS: After 2 years of CPAP therapy, the mean ± SE AHI was 6.7 ± 1.5/h and Epworth score 7.9 ± 0.4, both p < 0.001 versus baseline. Baseline utilities and changes (95% confidence interval) after 2 years of CPAP therapy were EuroQol 5-dimensions 0.79 ± 0.01, 0.02 (0.00-0.05, p = 0.064); short-form 6-dimension medical outcome questionnaire 0.72 ± 0.01, 0.06 (0.04-0.08, p < 0.001); Euro-thermometer visual analog scale 0.70 ± 0.01, 0.09 (0.07-0.12, p < 0.001); time trade-off 0.82 ± 0.01, 0.03 (0.01-0.06, p = 0.002); and standard gamble 0.82 ± 0.01, -0.01 (-0.03 to 0.02, p = 0.712). CONCLUSION: The short-form 6-dimensions questionnaire, the Euro-thermometer, and the time trade-off instruments reflected the major clinical improvements in OSAS, while the EuroQoL 5-dimensions and standard gamble tests were not sensitive to CPAP effects. These results indicate that the evaluation of utility of a treatment for OSAS depends critically on the instrument used, which is important from an individual and societal perspective.

Does venous blood gas analysis provide accurate estimates of hemoglobin oxygen affinity?

Alterations in hemoglobin oxygen affinity can be detected by exposing blood to different PO2 and recording oxygen saturation, a method termed tonometry. It is the gold standard to measure the PO2 associated with 50 % oxygen saturation, the index used to quantify oxygen affinity (P50Tono). P50Tono is used in the evaluation of patients with erythrocytosis suspected to have hemoglobin with abnormal oxygen affinity. Since tonometry is labor intensive and not generally available, we investigated whether accurate estimates of P50 could also be obtained by venous blood gas analysis, co-oximetry, and standard equations (P50Ven). In 50 patients referred for evaluation of erythrocytosis, pH, PO2, and oxygen saturation were measured in venous blood to estimate P50Ven; P50Tono was measured for comparison. Agreement among P50Ven and P50Tono was evaluated (Bland-Altman analysis). Mean P50Tono was 25.8 (range 17.4-34.1) mmHg. The mean difference (bias) of P50Tono-P50Ven was 0.5 mmHg; limits of agreement (95 % confidence limits) were -5.2 to +6.1 mmHg. The sensitivity and specificity of P50Ven to identify the 25 patients with P50Tono outside the normal range of 22.9-26.8 mmHg were 5 and 77 %, respectively. We conclude that estimates of P50 based on venous blood gas analysis and standard equations have a low bias compared to tonometry. However, the precision of P50Ven is not sufficiently high to replace P50Tono in the evaluation of individual patients with suspected disturbances of hemoglobin oxygen affinity.