Study: Shifting to bilevel PAP can save 56% of patients from therapy termination

A new study reveals that shifting patients who are struggling with adherence to positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy to a more advanced bilevel device in the first 90 days of treatment is an effective tool for achieving adherence in well more than half of such cases.

This research, sponsored by ResMed, was presented this week at SLEEP, an annual joint meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.

Patients diagnosed with sleep apnea are usually prescribed a PAP device that provides either continuous (CPAP) or auto-adjusting (APAP) pressure. A bilevel device delivers two distinct pressures, one for inhalation and one for exhalation. Physicians may prescribe bilevel for patients who are pressure intolerant or have continued evidence of apnea at higher pressures.

In this "Bilevel Rescue" study, ResMed compared 1,496 non-compliant patients (as defined by U.S. Medicare guidelines) who switched to bilevel therapy and found that compliance was achieved by:

• 58.5 percent of patients who switched before day 60
• 54.2 percent of patients who switched between days 60-90
• 56.8 percent of patients overall

"Finding the right mode of therapy made all the difference to those patients who are struggling with initial adherence to therapy," said ResMed Chief Medical Officer Carlos M. Nunez, M.D. "This strongly suggests that bilevel devices provide a powerful alternative therapy that physicians and HMEs can utilize to help improve non-compliant patients' treatment experience and outcomes."