Three-month follow-up after discontinuation of steam-assisted respiratory muscle training in mild-to-moderate obstructive sleep apnea: an exploratory polysomnographic study.

Authors

Usame Al-Rammahi, Tero Soukka, Jarmo Malinen, Risto-Pekka Happonen, Anssi Sovijärvi, Ulla Anttalainen

Published in

Sleep medicine. Volume 149. Pages 109326. Oct 17, 2026. Epub Oct 17, 2026.

Abstract

To explore polysomnographic findings three months after discontinuation of steam-assisted respiratory muscle training (RMT) in mild-to-moderate obstructive sleep apnea.
This exploratory secondary follow-up included 33 of 48 intervention entrants who completed polysomnography at baseline, after 12 weeks of training, and three months after cessation. The primary analysis used repeated-measures ANOVA (RM-ANOVA). Distributional diagnostics and exact Friedman sensitivity analyses were conducted for eight sleep-stage and periodic limb movement outcomes.
Conventional respiratory-event indices showed no overall time effect (all p ≥ 0.3). Flow limitation differed across visits (p = 0.02), without an immediate post-intervention reduction. The RM-ANOVA identified visit differences in REM latency (169.9 ± 74.9 min at baseline, 138.8 ± 66.4 min post-intervention, and 134.0 ± 66.5 min at follow-up; p = 0.003), N1 proportion (6.6 ± 4.0%, 10.8 ± 5.9%, and 11.2 ± 6.1%, respectively; p = 0.002), and PLMS-related arousal index (1.3 ± 2.1/h, 0.6 ± 1.1/h, and 0.7 ± 1.4/h, respectively; p = 0.01) and count (9.3 ± 15.2, 4.3 ± 7.9, and 5.2 ± 10.0, respectively; p = 0.02). Exact Friedman analyses yielded visit differences for N1 (p = 0.002) and the PLMS-related arousal index and count (p = 0.01 and 0.02), but not REM latency (p = 0.1).
This exploratory follow-up identified differences in N1 proportion and PLMS-related arousal measures across visits, supported by sensitivity analyses, while no overall visit differences were detected in conventional respiratory-event indices. REM latency differed significantly across visits in RM-ANOVA, but not in the sensitivity analysis. These observations warrant further investigation in controlled studies; the single-arm design and absence of an adaptation night prevent attribution to steam-assisted RMT or confirmation of lasting clinical benefit.
GOV: NCT05320952.

PMID:
42896454
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 20 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.