title: Principles of practice parameters for the treatment of sleep disordered breathing in the elderly and frail elderly: the consensus of the International Geriatric Sleep Medicine Task Force.
abstract: Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is a leading cause of morbidity worldwide. Its prevalence increases with age. Due to the demographic changes in industrial societies, pulmonologists and sleep physicians are confronted with a rapidly growing number of elderly SDB patients. For many physicians, it remains unclear how current guidelines for SDB management apply to elderly and frail elderly patients. The goal of this consensus statement is to provide guidance based on published evidence for SDB treatment in this specific patient group.Clinicians and researchers with expertise in geriatric sleep medicine representing several countries were invited to participate in a task force. A literature search of PubMed from the past 12 years and a systematic review of evidence of studies deemed relevant was performed.Recommendations for treatment management of elderly and frail elderly SDB patients based on published evidence were formulated via discussion and consensus.In the last 12 years, there have been surprisingly few studies examining treatment of SDB in older adults and even fewer in frail older adults. Studies that have been conducted on the management of SDB in the older patient population were rarely stratified for age. Studies in SDB treatment that did include age stratification mainly focused on middle-aged and younger patient groups. Based on the evidence that is available, this consensus statement highlights the treatment forms that can be recommended for elderly SDB patients and encourages treatment of SDB in this large patient group.
authors.affiliation: Hermann Buhl Institute for Hypoxia and Sleep Medicine Research, Dept of Sports Science, Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, University Innsbruck, Austria Division of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dept of Medicine, University Hospitals Ulm, Ulm, Germany nikolaus.netzer@uibk.ac.at.
authors.forename: Nikolaus C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Netzer
authors.affiliation: Depts of Psychiatry and Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ancoli-Israel
authors.affiliation: Sleep Program, Dept of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Donald L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Bliwise
authors.affiliation: Sleep and Epilepsy Center, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, Lugano, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Stephany
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fulda
authors.affiliation: Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine, Keele University, Keele, UK.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roffe
authors.affiliation: Dental Medical School, University of British Colombia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Fernanda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Sleep Center, Edouard Herriot University Hospital, HCL, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Hakki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Onen
authors.affiliation: Dept of Geriatrics, Bichat University Hospital, APHP and INSERM U669, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Fannie
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Onen
authors.affiliation: Institute for Rehabiltation Research, Hospital Norderney, Norderney, Germany.
authors.forename: Friedhart
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Raschke
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Dept, La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Martinez Garcia
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health, Dept Medicine, University Witten-Herdecke, Witten, Germany Dept of Geriatrics, Kliniken Essen Mitte, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Frohnhofen
mesh_terms: D026683:Advisory Committees; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D003071:Cognition; D003778:Dentures; D016330:Frail Elderly; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000379:methods; D006333:Heart Failure; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017286:Polysomnography; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011788:Quality of Life; D012890:Sleep; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000628:therapy*; D012955:Societies, Medical; D016896:Treatment Outcome