Study Finds Sleep Apnea Patients Who Use CPAP Live Longer

SAN DIEGO—Resmed, a global provider in health technology focused on sleep, breathing and care delivered in the home, announced the publication of a landmark meta-analysis in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, demonstrating that CPAP therapy significantly reduces the risk of death for people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Analyzing data from more than 1 million sleep apnea patients worldwide, the study provides the strongest evidence to date that CPAP therapy not only alleviates OSA symptoms but can also prolong life.

OSA affects more than one billion people worldwide, with over 80% of cases undiagnosed and untreated. This chronic sleep-related breathing disorder can impair daily functioning and has been associated with serious health conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke. The study reinforces that untreated OSA is a major but modifiable risk factor for both all-cause and cardiovascular-related death, highlighting the importance of consistent CPAP use. As the gold standard for OSA treatment, CPAP therapy is widely recognized for its effectiveness. When used correctly, it works overnight and only requires air; no drugs, surgery, or invasive procedures.

The study, led by global experts in sleep and respiratory medicine and supported by Resmed, found that people with OSA who use CPAP therapy have:

• A 37% lower risk of dying from any cause compared to those with OSA who do not use CPAP.
• A 55% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, reinforcing CPAP’s supportive benefits for heart health in people living with OSA.
• A dose-response relationship, meaning that the more consistently CPAP is used, the greater the survival benefits for people living with OSA.

“For people with OSA, using CPAP versus not using CPAP can literally be a matter of life or death,” said Carlos Nunez, Resmed’s chief medical officer. “Decades of research have shown CPAP can improve quality of life, and this study now provides the most comprehensive evidence yet that CPAP also prolongs lives for people living with OSA.”

This meta-analysis is the largest of its kind to date, pooling data from more than 1 million OSA patients across 30 studies, including 10 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 20 real-world evidence studies (RWEs). Researchers analyzed long-term outcomes over the average follow-up period of nearly five years, testing the hypothesis that CPAP therapy reduces both all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in OSA patients.

“The results of the study strongly suggest that CPAP therapy is a life-saving intervention for people with OSA,” said Atul Malhotra, senior author of the study, research chief of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Pulmonologist at UC San Diego Health. “It’s not only about sleep apnea treatment but also about supporting heart health and extending life.”

“These findings should serve as a wake-up call,” said Jean-Louis Pépin, study co-author, professor of clinical physiology at Grenoble University Hospital and director of the HP2 Laboratory INSERM U1300. “Every additional hour of CPAP treatment translates to improved chance of survival for people living with OSA. Patients who stay on CPAP therapy aren’t just breathing easier at night; they’re potentially adding years to their lives.”

To read the full study, see the publication in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. To learn more about how life-changing CPAP therapy can be, visit resmed.com/video-story-gallery.