Best treatment for excessive daytime sleepiness

The standard treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a positive airway pressure (PAP) mask that uses compressed air to support lung airways during sleep. However, some people with OSA still experience excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and may benefit from anti-fatigue medication.

Researchers in a recent study published in Annals of Internal Medicine have found that the drug solriamfetol is the most effective treatment for excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) for people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

McMaster University researchers Dena Zeraatkar and Tyler Pitre have found that the drug solriamfetol is the most effective treatment for excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) for people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

"Among those patients, many will have EDS, which affects their quality of life, making them less productive and also puts them at risk of other psychological issues. Improving this situation is of paramount importance to physicians." Pitre said that OSA affects nearly one billion people globally, leaving many of them at risk of EDS.

Zeraatkar and Pitre made their findings by conducting a systematic review of 14 clinical trials of anti-fatigue medications involving 3,085 people, as well as analysing data from MEDLINE, CENTRAL, EMBASE and ClinicalTrials.gov in a specific network meta-analysis.

"It would be interesting to see how effective these anti-fatigue medications will be for treating related illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome and long COVID, now that we know they work for a similar condition," said Zeraatkar.

Reference: Tyler Pitre, Jasmine Mah, Sarah Roberts, Kairavi Desai, Yusing Gu, Clodagh Ryan, Jason W. Busse, Dena Zeraatkar. Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Wakefulness-Promoting Agents for Excessive Daytime Sleepiness in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2023; DOI: 10.7326/M22-3473