Background: Current views on continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment to improve the cognitive deficits of patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) are controversial, so we performed a meta-analysis.
Methods: A comprehensive literature search was undertaken in PubMed, CINAHL, Medline, PsycInfo, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang, VIP, and CBMdisc for studies published from June 1971 to July 2014. The outcome measures included neuropsychological tests of the 7 cognitive domains detailed below.
Results: After screening the titles and abstracts and thoroughly reading the full text, we obtained 13 studies with little risk of bias that incorporated 1744 middle-aged obese participants with mild to severe OSAS. The studies were published from 1994 to 2012. Treatment durations varied from 1 to 24 weeks. The effect sizes of attention, vigilance, processing speed, working memory, memory, verbal fluency, and visuoconstructive skills domains were -0.10 (P = 0.24), -0.12 (P = 0.04), -0.08 (P = 0.16), 0.00 (P = 0.95), -0.04 (P = 0.30), -0.06 (P = 0.34), and -0.01 (P = 0.92), respectively.
Conclusions: Cognition partially improved in patients with OSAS after CPAP treatment. The only domain with significant improvement was vigilance. Rigorous randomized controlled trials need to be performed to obtain clear results.