| Abstract: | Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is characterised by heavy snoring, witnessed apnoea and excessive daytime somnolence. The reported prevalence of OSA in octogenarians is 13-33% (1-3) yet few patients >80 are referred for evaluation. This could be attributed to under-recognition, lack of perceived relevance or assuming octogenarians do poorly on CPAP therapy. Aims: 1. Determine referral rate for OSA evaluation in octogenarians. 2. Demonstrate CPAP efficacy in octogenarians. Methods: A retrospective database review of sleep-study outcomes from patients >80 years in Bons-Secours Cork Sleep Lab 2006-2021. Data collected included age, sex, AHI, CPAP compliance. Results: 3771 patients were referred for OSA investigation of which 17 (27%) were community referrals, 63 (1.6%) were >80 years. 22 female (35%). OSA was present in 88% of the elderly cohort with a mean age (+/- SD) 82 years. 28 patients were referred for CPAP, 46% had a successful trial at 1 month with average post-CPAP AHI was 6.5 compared to 28.1 pre-CPAP. At 1 year, 3 were lost to follow-up, remaining participants showed a 95% success rate of CPAP therapy. Conclusion: Sleep-study referrals in octogenarians are very rare despite subjective and objective improvement in quality-of-life. The low referral rate possibly suggests an ageist approach in the evaluation of OSA. Further analysis of attitudes amongst colleagues regarding OSA relevance in octogenarians is needed. |
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