COPD Hospitalization Risk Mitigated By Positive Airway Pressure Therapy
Positive airway pressure therapy (PAPT) is associated with reduction in hospitalization rates among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to the results of a recent study.
The researchers performed a retrospective analysis of administrative claims data of hospitalizations in 1,881,652 patients with COPD who either did or did not receive PAPT, including continuous positive airway pressure, bilevel positive airway pressure, and noninvasive positive pressure ventilation using a home ventilator.
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The majority (92.5%) of patients were not receiving any form of PAPT. After adjusting for confounders and propensity score, noninvasive positive pressure ventilation, bilevel positive airway pressure, and continuous positive airway pressure were all individually associated with lower risk of hospitalization during the 6 months post-treatment when compared with the 6 months pretreatment, but not when compared with the baseline period between 12 and 6 months before treatment.
“Our study adds to a developing body of literature that suggests the initiation of positive airway pressure therapy was independently associated with the reduction in hospitalization of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Whether this association is causal cannot be determined from our observational data and warrants future intervention studies.”
—Michael Potts
Reference:
Vasquez MM, McClure LA, Sherrill DL, et al. Positive airway pressure therapies and hospitalization in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [published online January 14, 2017]. AJM. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2016.11.045.