A.P.P.L.E.S. / Apnea Positive Pressure Long Term Efficacy Study


Are you tired or fatigued?  Do you snore?  Do you awaken from sleep gasping for air?  If so, you may have a sleep disorder called Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

You may be eligible to participate in a clinical research trial being conducted examining the effectiveness of a treatment for Sleep Apnea.  Participation lasts approximately 7 months and includes 2 training sessions, 4-5 overnight studies, 3 days of testing, and 2 appointments with a physician.  There are no costs to you, and you will receive payment for your participation in this study.

Eligible participants include individuals who have been recently diagnosed with OSA or have the symptoms of the disorder, but who have not yet been treated for the disorder.  In addition, you must be at least 18 of age, non-pregnant or nursing, in good health, and must not be working evenings or rotating shifts during the course of the study.

The benefits for participation include extra medical attention, the opportunity to learn more about the disorder, and $500 for completing the study.


A.P.P.L.E.S. Sites:

St. Lukes Hospital, Chesterfield, Missouri (314) 205-6026
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (617) 527 3501 ext 146
St. Mary Medical Center, Walla Walla, Washington (509) 522-5845
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona  (520) 626-7104
Stanford University, Palo Alto, California (650) 736-8871


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Executive Director
American Sleep Apnea Association
6856 Eastern Avenue, NW Ste. 203
Washington, DC 20012
202-293-3650

This is very good news from the standpoint of heightening awareness, however, I question how many people will be willing to devote 7 months of their life to it.

I also wonder, since CPAP is a long-standing, proven and effective treatment, what exactly the researchers mean by "...examining the effectiveness of a treatment for Sleep Apnea."

Please let us know if you hear any more about this, Ed.

I also wonder, since CPAP is a long-standing, proven and effective treatment, what exactly the researchers mean by "...examining the effectiveness of a treatment for Sleep Apnea."


I's quite new to this, but has CPAP been examined in many structured studies? Or is most of the evidence individual reports? Statistical analysis carries a lot of weight in the medical community!

Please tell me what you need.

1cboh1,

The study is not through the ASAA.  Call the hospital nearest you directly and ask to be connected to the department running the sleep apnea APPLE study.

Vicki


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That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

After many years of apnea and snoring, I was introduced to the use of a CPAP machine through this study and spent seven months as a lab rat.  The main "kicker" is that it is a double-blind setup - only half of the people involved are given the level of pressure they need to be effective.  I was fortunate enough to have received the correct level.  The goal is not to show that CPAP helps apnea, as an earlier poster stated this is pretty well established.  This study tries to quantify the impact of CPAP-assisted sleep on cognitive performance.  Three times during the study you spend an entire day at the sleep lab being run through a series of mental tests including tests of response time, mental math, remembering lists of words, and staying awake for 20min sitting quietly on a bed (which can be challanging!).  If you have not been given the correct pressure level during the study, they will do one additional overnight sleep study at no charge to establish your correct level so they can write you a prescription.  (This was done at the University of Arizona, but I would expect that all the sites are following similar protocols.)

It was an interesting experience, and the bottom line for me was that I received a sleep study (three of them, actually) for free and was paid besides.  I now have my own CPAP machine AND my wife is able to sleep in the same room with me again!  Well worth the time put in.