TY - JOUR T1 - Cognition, quality of life and adherence to CPAP after 18-months treatment in obstructive sleep apnea patients JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p2233 AU - Vincenza Castronovo AU - Sara Marelli AU - Mark S. Aloia AU - Marco Zucconi AU - Alessandro Oldani AU - Mauro Manconi AU - Luigi Ferini Strambi Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p2233.abstract N2 - Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) determines cognitive dysfunctions and diminished quality of life (QoL). Adherence to PAP treatment although effective, still remains a challenge for patients.Aims: To evaluate neurocognitive functions, adherence to PAP and QoL in a consecutive group of OSA patients at baseline (BL) compared to age and education-matched normal controls and to assess changes after 18-months of fixed PAP treatment (FU) with C-flex (Philips/Respironics).Methods: 67 males (mean age 50.3±10.4) with severe OSA (mean AHI=55.1±22.8) and 15 controls. Neurocognitive functions (attention, vigilance, memory, executive functions, visuo-constructional abilities), sleepiness, mood and QoL (SF36 and FOSQ) were evaluated at BL and at FU. At FU objective compliance to PAP (hours of use per night and% of days of use) was assessed by EncorePro software.Results: 10 patients were excluded for low compliance to PAP within the 18-months observation period. At BL patients showed significantly lower scores than controls in all neurocognitive domains (p<.001) as well as in FOSQ (p<.001) and in the general health subscale of SF36. At FU an overall significant improvement of cognition (all domains), QoL, sleepiness and mood was observed. At FU mean compliance to PAP was 6.1±1.1 hrs and% of days of use 88.5±15.1.Conclusion: Our data showed that cognitive functions and QoL, all impaired when compared to controls at BL, significantly improved at FU when patients, if adherent to the device, were able to reach the same scores of controls. Adherence to PAP can be considered the trigger of improvement both in QoL and cognition but still remains a challenge for both patients and physicians. ER -