Study objectives: To assess the proportion of patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) reporting previous or current use and interest in future use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies.
Design: Cross-sectional, point-of-care, anonymous survey.
Setting: Sleep disorders center at a Midwest tertiary care center.
Participants: Six hundred forty-six consecutive patients undergoing polysomnography.
Measurements: The survey instrument comprised 45 items specifically related to CAM therapies, in addition to obtaining baseline data.
Results: Response rate was 81% (522/646). A total of 406/522 (78%) patients were diagnosed with OSAHS. Mean age +/- SD was 57 +/- 14 years, and 267 participants (66%) were men. Overall, 237 (58%) participants reported ever using CAM. Ever and current CAM use specifically for improving sleep was reported by 20% and 7% of the participants, respectively. Twenty-six percent of participants reported ever using biologic products, and 52% reported ever using nonbiologic CAM treatments. A high proportion (58%) of the participants showed interest in future CAM use for improving sleep.
Conclusion: A high proportion of patients with OSAHS report previous or current use, and interest in future use, of CAM treatments. This underscores the need to conduct further research in this field.