Clinical Trials in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Recognizing Trends and Future Opportunities

Area of Science:

• Sleep Medicine
• Clinical Research
• Otolaryngology

Background:

• Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a prevalent condition requiring diverse treatment strategies.
• Understanding the landscape of clinical trials is crucial for advancing OSA research and patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize researchers, interventions, and research trends in US and international clinical trials for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
• To identify opportunities for future investigation and guide research priorities in OSA treatment paradigms.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 813 obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) clinical trials from ClinicalTrials.gov (1999-2017).
• Data collected included principal investigator (PI) demographics, intervention types, funding sources, and geographic distribution.
• Analysis compared surgical versus nonsurgical trials regarding PI characteristics and patient populations.

Main Results:

• Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was the most studied intervention (43.7%), followed by pharmacotherapies (19.2%) and surgery (10.7%).
• Most trials were international (59.9%), and PIs were predominantly male (72.0%) with MDs (72.7%).
• Surgical trials were more likely to have male PIs and involve pediatric patients; otolaryngologists represented 9.2% of PIs.

Conclusions:

• Continuous positive airway pressure remains the most investigated treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
• Sleep surgery, including otolaryngology, represents a smaller proportion of OSA clinical trials.
• Findings can inform future research funding and interdisciplinary collaboration in OSA treatment.