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Impact of PAP therapy on hospitalization rates in Medicare beneficiaries with COPD and coexisting OSA

  • Sleep Breathing Physiology and Disorders • Original Article
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Abstract

Objective

Growing evidence supports that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and coexisting obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have poor prognosis. This association is described as overlap syndrome. Positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy is now the preferred treatment for OSA. We hypothesized that use of PAP therapy in elderly patients with overlap syndrome would be associated with lower healthcare utilization.

Methods

In this retrospective cohort study, we analyzed data from 5% national sample of fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries with a diagnosis of COPD who were newly started on PAP therapy in 2011. We examined the effect of PAP therapy on emergency room (ER) visits and hospitalizations for all-cause and COPD-related conditions in the 1 year pre- and 1 year post-initiation of PAP therapy.

Results

In year 2011, we identified 319 patients with overlap syndrome who were new users of PAP therapy. In this cohort of patients, hospitalization rates for COPD-related conditions were significantly lower in the 1 year post-initiation of PAP therapy compared to the 1-year pre-initiation period (19.4 vs 25.4%, P value = 0.03). However, ER visits (for any cause or COPD-related conditions) and hospitalization rates for any cause did not differ significantly in the pre- and post-initiation periods. PAP therapy was more beneficial in older adults, those with higher COPD complexity, and those with three or more comorbidities.

Conclusion

Initiation of PAP therapy in elderly patients with overlap syndrome is associated with a reduction in hospitalization for COPD-related conditions, but not for all-cause hospitalizations and ER visits.

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Abbreviations

AECOPD:

Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

AHI:

Apnea-Hypopnea Index

BAL:

Bronchoalveolar lavage

CHF:

Congestive heart failure

CI:

Confidence interval

CMS:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

COPD:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

DME:

Durable Medical Equipment

ER:

Emergency room

HMO:

Health maintenance organization

HR:

Hazard ratio

ICD-9:

International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision

OSA:

Obstructive sleep apnea

PAP:

Positive airway pressure

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Sarah Toombs Smith, PhD, for her help with preparation of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality [Grant R01-HS020642] and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research institute [Grant R24HS022134]. The sponsor had no role in the design or conduct of this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Internal Medicine Residency Program, San Joaquin General Hospital, 500 W Hospital Road, French Camp, CA, 95231, USA

    Gurinder Singh

  2. Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX, USA

    Amitesh Agarwal, Wei Zhang, Rizwana Sultana & Gulshan Sharma

  3. Office of Biostatistics, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX, USA

    Wei Zhang & Yong-Fang Kuo

  4. Sealy Center of Aging, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX, USA

    Yong-Fang Kuo & Gulshan Sharma

Authors
  1. Gurinder Singh
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  2. Amitesh Agarwal
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  3. Wei Zhang
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Contributions

Dr. Gurinder Singh served as principal author, had full access to the data in the study, and takes full responsibility for the content of the manuscript, including accuracy of data analysis.

Dr. Amitesh Agarwal, Mr. Wei Zhang, Dr. Yong-Fang Kuo, Dr. Rizwana Sultana, and Dr. Gulshan Sharma contributed to the conception, study design, analysis, interpretation of results, drafting of manuscript, and final approval of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gurinder Singh.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Gulshan Sharma served on the advisory board of Sunovion and Mylan Pharmaceuticals. The remaining authors have no potential conflicts of interest related to the content of manuscript.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Review Board of University of Texas Medical Branch and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was not needed due to the nature of the study.

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Singh, G., Agarwal, A., Zhang, W. et al. Impact of PAP therapy on hospitalization rates in Medicare beneficiaries with COPD and coexisting OSA. Sleep Breath 23, 193–200 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-018-1680-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-018-1680-0

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