Quality of Life in Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with significant cardiovascular andcerebrovascular morbidity and mortality. Usual parameters studied in sleep laboratoryare unable to measure overall impact of OSA on human life. Consequently, it isimportant to measure Quality of Life (QoL) in OSA. QoL can be measured with genericinstruments like SF-36 or OSA specific questionnaires like Calgary Sleep ApneaQuality of Life (SAQLI) questionnaire. Most of the studies suggest that there issignificant impairment of QoL in patients of OSA. But the present evidence suggeststhat impairment in QoL is not proportional to severity of OSA. There is no consensus onthe question of improvement in QoL with Continuous Positive Airway Pressure(CPAP) therapy. A recent Cochrane review concluded that CPAP improves QoL inpeople with moderate and severe OSA.Key words : Obstructive sleep apnea, Quality of Life, Continuous Positive AirwayPressure