Efficacy of exercise as a treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: A systematic review

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) is a prevalent condition associated with numerous adverse health consequences. Exercise therapy was described as a valuable OSAS treatment alternative to continuous positive airway pressure.

The objective of the present systematic review was to assess the efficacy of exercise in reducing OSAS severity and associated comorbidities.

We queried MEDLINE and SCOPUS and ScienceDirect databases with the following keywords: "sleep apnea" and "sleep disordered breathing" for the population and "physical activity", "fitness" and "exercise" for the intervention.

Eight studies including a total number of 354 patients showed that OSAS severity was significantly reduced after intervention. This reduction was associated with significant improvement in cardio-vascular fitness, sleep quality and quality of life. Conversely, this effect was not directly related to body weight reduction.

This systematic review suggests that physical activity should be recommended as a treatment for OSAS patients. However, further research is necessary to demonstrate this long-term efficiency with a higher level of confidence and to better understand the underlying physiological mechanisms.