Positional obstructive sleep apnoea: challenging findings in consecutive patients treated with a vibrating position...

Last years, vibrating devices were introduced to treat positional sleep apnoea (POSA). However, few data exist on determinants of effectiveness and adherence in clinical settings. Methods: The NightBalance Sleep Position Trainer (SPT) analyses the patient's position during the first 2 nights, starts to build up vibrations during the following 7 and is 100% performant from night 10 on; and, reports on %supine, usage time, number of (responses on) vibrations. The device was started for a 28-day try-out period in a clinical cohort of 51 consecutive patients with POSA. SPT-stored data were studied on different time points: first 2 nights without vibrations (baseline), first 2 nights on SPT 100% performance (short term) and 2 later nights after having used the full performant device for 14 days (long term). Results: Only 27 patients used the device throughout the long-term period. The baseline %supine was lower than during polysomnography: 22.9 ± 16.2 versus 40.7 ± 20.0% (p = 0.0005). Apnoea-hypopnoea index calculation taking into account the %supine on SPT revealed that 2/27 patients would not have obstructive sleep apnoea at home. The baseline %supine dropped (p < 0.0001) on short term without further change on long term. Ten patients could be considered cured and demonstrated higher response on vibrations. Only 29 patients could be considered as adherent, and they demonstrated higher response on vibrations and less side effects; only 13 wanted to purchase the SPT. Conclusion: On polysomnography, the %supine is overestimated. The efficacy and low adherence are influenced by differences in response to vibrations. The training effect is already presented on short term.