Sleep apnea is a common chronic disease and the treatments available require the patients to use it every night. Recently, medicine has improved their focus on chronic disease management, and has given better focus on the patient experiences to improve the long-term benefits of treatments. This article points out the main experiences and preferences from individuals who have used CPAP or Oral Appliance or both. It is really interesting for patients deciding on the treatment to read the table 3, on page 662.
Given that there is a choice of treatments, this study illustrates that despite negative aspects of both treatments, such as discomfort, noise of machine, bite changes for example, patients were still committed to using a sleep apnea treatment.
Recognizing a patient’s willingness to improve their symptoms and respecting their choice of treatment helps the practitioner and patient to select the best treatment to meet their physical and lifestyle needs.
