Interpreting CPAP device respiratory indices in children

Abstract

Study Objectives: An increasing number of children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) require treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). This study aimed to determine whether automatic respiratory indices from a CPAP device accurately predict manually determined respiratory indices derived from overnight polysomnography (PSG) in children. Methods: Consecutive children undergoing manual CPAP titration PSG using a ResMed VPAP ST-A (S9) were included. The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), apnea index (AI), and hypopnea index (HI) from automatic analysis of the CPAP device for that night (AHICPAP, AICPAP, and HICPAP) were compared with manually derived respiratory indices (RDIPSG, OAHIPSG, AIPSG, and HIPSG) using the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test. Results: Forty-six children (32 boys; median age, 13.5 years; range, 4.6–20.0 years) were included. There was no difference between RDIPSG and AHICPAP (P = .6) nor between HIPSG and HICPAP (P = .2). AIPSG was significantly lower than AICPAP (mean difference −1.3 events/hr, P < .001). AIPSG and AICPAP were strongly correlated (r2 = .72, P