CFlex does not improve clinical outcomes!

New device for sleep apnea seen easier to tolerate
Fri Jul 1, 2005 3:20 PM BST
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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The use of a flexible CPAP (continuous
positive airway pressure) device that adjusts pressure with
inhalation and exhalation can boost adherence to CPAP therapy in
patients with obstructive sleep apnea, research shows.

People who experience sleep apnea, brief episodes when breathing
stops during sleep, are often treated with CPAP to help them breathe
properly during the night. Standard CPAP devices deliver air at a
constant pressure, which can be uncomfortable and lead people to give
up using it.

The flexible CPAP device, known as C-Flex, alternates airway pressure
on a breath-by-breath basis, which is thought to improve patient
comfort and, in turn, treatment adherence.

In their study, Dr. Mark S. Aloia, from Butler Hospital in
Providence, Rhode Island, and colleagues treated 89 patients with
moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea with standard CPAP or C-
Flex and followed them for 3 months.

Compared with standard CPAP, use of C-Flex was associated with higher
mean treatment adherence, the investigators note. Specifically, after
3 months, the standard CPAP group was using the device for an average
of 3.1 hours per night, while the C-Flex users stayed on the device
for 4.8 hours.

Although CPAP with C-Flex did not improve clinical outcomes, users of
the device may feel more confident in their ability to adhere to
treatment, the investigators note in the medical journal Chest

"Further randomized controlled trials will be necessary to compare
this to other flow-delivery patterns to assess the impact on both
short-term and long-term outcomes," the authors state.

C-Flex is produced by Murraysville, Pennsylvania-based Respironics.

SOURCE: Chest June 2005.

How is increasing amount of sleep with the machine attached by 50% *not* an "improved clinical outcome??!"

That's really odd.

I have this warm fuzzy thing I wrap around my hose. It's really helped to make the overall CPAP experience more comfortable. Hence, I sleep better and use CPAP more often. But I bet the "experts" can't find that the warm, fuzzy things are "clinically" better than not using the warm, fuzzy things:)

momexp5 wrote:How is increasing amount of sleep with the machine attached by 50% *not* an "improved clinical outcome??!"

That's really odd.

Because they are talking about the impact of CFLEX on results, all else being equal. And they are simply saying more testing needs to be done to come to any further conclusions. It seems this study was primarily targetted to measure the impact of CFLEX on compliance as they did give clear data showing better compliance with cflex. The good news is that these studies are being done.


Ron

You cannot judge clinical outcomes by doing a three month study - it needs to be long term. I think that if you have beeter adherence, you would have better outcomes in the long term What do you think? Sounds very simple to me.