title: A pilot study to compare patient perception of obstructive sleep apnea treatment with CPAP or appliance therapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device yields optimum results in treating mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However it may be bulky, noisy, and difficult to sleep with for the patient. Mandibular advancement devices (MAD) have shown better compliance but at the expense of lesser efficiency.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the patient's posttreatment subjective perception of the effectiveness of 2 common treatments of OSA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-two patients diagnosed with OSA filled out the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Berlin Sleep Quality Questionnaire before treatment and again at 4 to 6 weeks after treatment. Two groups were formed (n=16 each); one group was treated with MAD and the other with CPAP. The data obtained were recorded and compared with the Mann Whitney U test (between groups) and the Wilcoxon signed rank test (within groups) (α=.05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analysis showed that the participants perceived significant posttreatment improvement (P<.05) for all variables of the Berlin Sleep Quality Questionnaire and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale for both the MAD and CPAP groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to the questionnaires, participants perceived significant improvement in OSA symptoms after treatment in both the MAD and CPAP groups. The study was inconclusive as to whether improvement of perceived symptoms was higher with MAD or CPAP.
authors: Assistant Professor, Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dental Sciences, KG Medical University, Lucknow, India. Electronic address: deeksha.arya@gmail.com.
authors: Deeksha
authors: D
authors: Arya
authors: Associate Professor, Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dental Sciences, KG Medical University, Lucknow, India.
authors: Saumyendra Vikram
authors: SV
authors: Singh
authors: Professor and Head, Saraswati Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Lucknow, India.
authors: Arvind
authors: A
authors: Tripathi
authors: Professor and Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, KG Medical University, Lucknow, India.
authors: Surya Kant
authors: SK
authors: Tripathi
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D019186:Mandibular Advancement / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D009967:Orthodontic Appliances; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000379:methods; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000628:therapy*; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology; D012907:Smoking; D012913:Snoring / Q000150:complications; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome