TUESDAY, June 2, 2026 (NewsDay News) — For adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), early nonadherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) does not predict treatment withdrawal, according to a study presented at the 2026 American Thoracic Society International Conference, May 15, 2026, in Orlando.
Dennis Hwang, MD, of Kaiser Permanente Southern California, and colleagues examined long-term use and dropout rates from CPAP therapy regardless of early use. All adult patients with OSA analyzed CPAP between 2020 and 2023 within Kaiser Permanente Southern California; those who recorded at least one episode of device use during the year following CPAP withdrawal were eligible for 90-day follow-up by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Overall, 49.0 percent of the 132,492 patients met CMS’ 90-day compliance, which increased to 53.5 percent among those older than 65 years. Researchers observed associations for younger age, female sex, non-white race/ethnicity, lower socioeconomic status, and lower OSA severity with non-compliance with CMS. 36% of patients who did not meet CMS compliance were still using CPAP at month 12. Mean use in this group was 197 ± 160 min/night, with a minimum of four hours for 42.9 ± 36.0 percent of nights. Of all CMS nonadherent patients, 20.9 and 13.6 percent used CPAP for at least two and at least four hours/night, respectively, during month 12; consumption was even higher among those over 65: 23.3 and 16.5 percent at least two and at least four hours/night, respectively.
“These findings challenge a long-held assumption in clinical practice and policy,” Hwang said in a statement. “The extent of continued use we observed in those who initially failed to meet Medicare compliance was surprising.”
