Sleep apnea patients on CPAP therapy live longer, study finds 

SAN DIEGO – CPAP therapy significantly reduces the risk of death for people with obstructive sleep apnea, according to a landmark meta-analysis supported by Resmed and published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 

The study, which analyzed data from more than 1 million sleep apnea patients worldwide across 30 studies, found those on CPAP therapy have: 

• A 37% lower risk of dying from any cause compared to those with OSA who do not use CPAP. 
• A 55% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, reinforcing CPAP’s supportive benefits for heart health in people living with OSA. 
• A dose-response relationship, meaning that the more consistently CPAP is used, the greater the survival benefits for people living with OSA. 

“For people with OSA, using CPAP versus not using CPAP can literally be a matter of life or death,” said Carlos Nunez, M.D., Resmed’s chief medical officer. “Decades of research have shown CPAP can improve quality of life, and this study now provides the most comprehensive evidence, yet that CPAP also prolongs lives for people living with OSA.” 

Researchers analyzed long-term outcomes over the average follow-up period of nearly five years, testing the hypothesis that CPAP therapy reduces both all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in OSA patients. 

The study’s authors are Adam V. Benjafield PhD; Prof Jean-Louis Pepin; Prof Peter A. Cistulli; Alison Wimms PhD; Florent Lavergne MSc; Fatima H. Sert Kuniyoshi PhD, Sibyl H. Munson PhD, Brendan Schuler BS; Shrikar Reddy Badikol MSc; Kelly C. Wolfe BS; Leslee Willes MPH; Colleen Kelly PhD; Tetyana Kendzerska MD; Dayna A. Johnson PhD; Prof Raphael Heinzer MD, Prof Chi-Hang Lee MD, Prof Atul Malhotra MD. 

Read the full study in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.