Abstract
BackgroundObstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Type 2 diabetes (T2D). Observational studies suggested that OSA treatment might reduce CVD and T2D but RCTs failed to support these observations in part due to poor adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Physical activity (PA) has been shown to have favourable impact on CVD and the risk of T2D independent of its impact on weight and therefore might provide additional health gains to patients with OSA, whether or not adherent to CPAP.MethodsThe main aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of providing a 12-week PA intervention to adults aged over 50 with OSA. The secondary aim was to assess the impact of the PA intervention on OSA severity. Patients with moderate-severe OSA (apnoea hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 15 events/hour (based on overnight ApneaLink™) were recruited in response to posters displayed in workplaces. A 12-week daily PA intervention was delivered in participant’s home setting and PA was monitored via text and validated by objective PA measures (GT3X accelerometers).ResultsThe intervention was feasible as all 10 patients (8 males, mean (SD) age 57.3 (6.01)) completed the intervention and PA increased across the 12-weeks. The duration of PA increased from baseline (113.1 min (64.69) per week to study-end following the intervention (248.4 min (148.31) (p = 0.02). Perceived Exertion (RPE) (physical effort) increased significantly between baseline (M = 10.7 (1.94)) to end of intervention (M = 13.8, (1.56) (p < 0.001). The intervention had no significant impact on weight or composition. Following the intervention, there was a statistically non-significant a reduction in AHI from baseline to study end (22.3 (7.35) vs. 15.8 (7.48); p = 0.09).ConclusionIt is feasible to deliver a PA intervention to adults aged over 50 with OSA. The intervention resulted in improved PA and AHI levels somewhat and seemingly independent of weight changes. Future trials need to examine whether PA can reduce the burden of OSA associated comorbidities.Trial registrationCTN: ISRCTN11016312 Retrospectively Registered 21/07/20.
Highlights
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Type 2 diabetes (T2D)
All 10 participants who were recruited in the study completed the intervention, there were no drop outs, some missing data was present for certain variables
Our study demonstrated that it is feasible to deliver a 12-week Physical activity (PA) intervention to patients with OSA aged above 50 years old in a community setting, and that a structured PA program might have the potential to improve PA and OSA severity independent of weight loss
Summary
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Type 2 diabetes (T2D). Observational studies suggested that OSA treatment might reduce CVD and T2D but RCTs failed to support these observations in part due to poor adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). OSA is characterized by instability in the upper airways (UAs) during sleep leading to recurrent episodes of the UA obstruction [3]. OSA is associated with several comorbidities including increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) [7], Type-2 Diabetes (T2D) and its microvascular complications [8,9,10,11], and hypertension [12], and has serious implications for health and wellbeing across the lifespan. Overall adherence to CPAP is often poor due to discomfort with the mask and the general intrusion of the machine during sleep time amongst other factors [16,17,18]
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