The Effect of Positional Device on the Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients With Ischemic Stroke

Overview

Supine positioning was reported to increase upper airway collapsibility, apnea frequency and duration. Positional therapy, designed to minimize supine sleep, was reported to be beneficial in the general sleep apnea population. As supine sleep is very common in stroke patients, positional therapy might also have therapeutic effects. Given differences between stroke patients with sleep apnea and the general sleep apnea patient, such as rolling ability, body mass index and daytime sleepiness, positional therapy results in the general population may not be applicable to the stroke patient. The effects of positional therapy in ischemic stroke patients with OSA have not been well-investigated. We therefore performed a pilot randomized, controlled, cross-over study to test the following hypotheses: (1) positional therapy reduces the amount of nocturnal supine positioning in patients with subacute ischemic stroke, and (2) severity of sleep apnea improves, as reflected by apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), during positional therapy. The tolerability of positional therapy over a 3-month period in patients with ischemic stroke was also evaluated.

Phase 1: In the first phase, a randomized, controlled, two-period cross-over study design (AB/BA) was used with no washout period. After an acclimatization period (3 days), during which the compliance of the Positional Device was monitored, each patient was randomized into either Group I (sequence AB) or Group II (sequence BA). After commencement of treatment, the outcome measures were repeated on the last day of each treatment period. On the control night (B), subjects used the lumbar corset and were positioned ad lib. Phase 2: In the second phase of the study which began immediately after attainment of the first phase, subjects were randomized on a 1:1 basis, in a parallel group design, to 3 months of positional devices or sleeping ad lib. At 3 months later all subjects were interviewed face to face to determine the Barthel index and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item depression scale. Subjects in the positional devices group were also evaluated about devices adherence using the following questions: use of the device all nights, most nights, some nights, or no nights.