Continuous positive airway pressure versus standard care for the treatment of people with mild obstructive sleep apnoea (MERGE): a multicentre, randomised controlled trial

Publication date: Available online 2 December 2019Source: The Lancet Respiratory MedicineAuthor(s): Alison J Wimms, Julia L Kelly, Christopher D Turnbull, Alison McMillan, Sonya E Craig, John F O'Reilly, Annabel H Nickol, Emma L Hedley, Meredith D Decker, Leslee A Willes, Peter M A Calverley, Adam V Benjafield, John R Stradling, Mary J Morrell, Alison J Wimms, Julia L Kelly, Christopher D Turnbull, Alison McMillan, Sonya E Craig, John F O'ReillySummaryBackgroundThe evidence base for the treatment of mild obstructive sleep apnoea is limited and definitions of disease severity vary. The MERGE trial investigated the clinical effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure in patients with mild obstructive sleep apnoea.MethodsMERGE, a multicentre, parallel, randomised controlled trial enrolled patients (≥18 years to ≤80 years) with mild obstructive sleep apnoea (apnoea-hypopnoea index [AHI] ≥5 to ≤15 events per h using either AASM 2007 or AASM 2012 scoring criteria) from 11 UK sleep centres. Participants were assigned (1:1) to either 3 months of continuous positive airway pressure plus standard care (sleep counselling), or standard care alone, by computer-generated randomisation; neither participants nor researchers were blinded. The primary outcome was a change in the score on the Short Form-36 questionnaire vitality scale in the intention-to-treat population of patients with mild obstructive sleep apnoea diagnosed using the American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2012 s...
Source: The Lancet Respiratory Medicine - Category: Respiratory Medicine Source Type: research