Sleep Positional Trainer Research Projects
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Sleep Positional Trainer Research Projects:- - Prevalence of Positional Obstructive Sleep Apnoea in Retrospective Review of Sleep Studies - Accuracy of Sleep Positional Analysis by Sleep Positional Trainers - Experience with Sleep Positional Trainers for Positional Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
IRAS ID
209490
Contact name
Chris Carlin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research & Development Department, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome - where repetitive nocturnal airway obstruction results in sleep fragmentation, daytime sleepiness, increased accident and cardiovascular disease risk - is an important condition increasing rapidly in prevalence as part of the obesity epidemic. Treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) with nocturnal continous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy or with a dental mandibular repositioning splint (MRS) can be very successful, but a significant proportion of patients fail to tolerate these therapies, and additional treatment options are required.
A proportion of patients have OSA occurring mostly or exclusively when they are lying supine, with normal breathing patterns when they are lying on their right or left hand side. This positional obstructive sleep apnoea (P-OSA) may not have as significant health implications as moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, but many patients experience sleep disruption, impaired sleep quality and daytime sleepiness relatable to it. P-OSA can be treated with lifestyle modification (weight loss), and standard CPAP and dental splint approaches, but these are less well tolerated than in patients with more severe OSA. Minimising the time that a patient sleeps supine – training them to sleep majority of the night or complete night on their side – is an attractive option however previous attempts to achieve this positional training (eg tennis ball in the pocket of reversed pyjama jacket) have not been successful.
Sleep positional trainer (SPT) devices (worn on a strap around the lower chest or neck, vibrates when detect supine posture to trigger sleep position change) have recently become available, but evaluation of the prevalence of P-OSA in our population, and the accuracy and potential utility of these SPT devices is required.
REC name
London - Dulwich Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0045
Date of REC Opinion
9 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion