CPAP Therapy Effects on Neck and Shoulder Muscles in OSA Patients

Obstructive sleep apnea [OSA] is very prevalent worldwide and causes several major cardiovascular diseases. There are limited studies on a correlation of OSA and musculoskeletal system. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of continuous positive airway pressure [CPAP] on musculoskeletal system focused on cervical alignment and pressure pain threshold of neck and shoulders in OSA patients. This study was an experimental study and conducted at Sleep Clinic, Srinagarind Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. The study period was between September and December 2017. The inclusion criteria were adult patients (aged between 20 and 60 years), newly diagnosed as OSA, and able to use CPAP therapy. Both cervical range of motion and pressure pain threshold of neck and shoulder muscles were measured at baseline and one month after CPAP therapy. There were 15 OSA patients with CPAP therapy eligible for the study. The means [SD] age and body mass index of all patients were 39.13 (11.81) years and 32.20 (8.57) kg/m2. The average (SD) AHI was 23.06 (15.06) events/hour with average CPAP use of 6.5 hours. Regarding the cervical range of motion, there was no statistical difference between pre- and post-CPAP therapy in all six directions of the cervical range of motion. For pressure pain threshold in ten muscles of neck and shoulders were significantly lower after CPAP therapy. In conclusion, CPAP therapy significantly reduced pressure pain threshold in neck and shoulder muscles in a shortterm period. Keywords: Obstructive sleep apnea, Range of motion, Pressure pain threshold