Can positional therapy be simple, effective and well tolerated all together? A prospective study on treatment response and compliance in positional sleep apnea with a positioning pillow.

Johan Newell, Olivier Mairesse, Daniel Neu

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

6citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

Comparison of a Vibrating Belt Versus a Positional Pillow for the Treatment of Positional Obstructive Sleep Apnea in a Real-World Setting: Results of a Prospective Randomized Crossover Trial.Cureus · 2025
Article
The Potential Effect of Changing Patient Position on Snoring: A Systematic Review.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024
Review
Residual OSA in Down syndrome: does body position matter?Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2023
Article
Memory Foam Pillow as an Intervention in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: A Preliminary Randomized Study.Frontiers in medicine · 2022
Article
Efficacy of a Smart Antisnore Pillow in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome.Behavioural neurology · 2021
Article
Alternative Approaches to Adenotonsillectomy and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) for the Management of Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): A Review.Sleep disorders · 2020
Review

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Johan NewellSleep Laboratory and Unit for Chronobiology U78, Brugmann University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Arthur Van Gehuchten Square 4, Building Hh, 1020, Brussels, Belgium. johan.newell@chu-brugmann.be.

Olivier MairesseSleep Laboratory and Unit for Chronobiology U78, Brugmann University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Arthur Van Gehuchten Square 4, Building Hh, 1020, Brussels, Belgium.

Daniel NeuSleep Laboratory and Unit for Chronobiology U78, Brugmann University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Arthur Van Gehuchten Square 4, Building Hh, 1020, Brussels, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeUntil now, there is no clear consensus on optimal care for mild sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD) in general or for positional obstructive sleep apnea (POSA) in particular. Most proposed treatment options are either invasive and/or expensive. Positional therapy (PT) may therefore present as a valuable first-line intervention in POSA.

methodsTwenty-eight patients presenting with POSA were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. The protocol consisted of three nights of polysomnography (PSG) in an academic sleep lab. Inclusion was based on the first PSG. During a consecutive PSG, PT was provided by means of a sleep-positioning pillow (Posiform®). The third PSG was performed after 1 month of PT. Sleepiness, fatigue, and sleep quality were assessed with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the fatigue severity scale (FSS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Function Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ) at baseline, and after 1 and at 6 months of PT alongside satisfaction and compliance ratings.

resultsSignificant immediate treatment effects after one night and sustained after 1 month were observed by significant reductions of sleep in supine position (p < .001), sleep fragmentation (p < .05), apnea-hypopnea (p < .001), respiratory disturbance (p < .001), and oxygen desaturation (p < .001) indices. PSQI (p < .001), ESS (p < .005), and FOSQ (p < .001) also showed significant and persistent improvements.

conclusionsCombined effects on sleep-related respiration and clinical symptoms were observed after PT initiation as well as after 1 month using the sleep-positioning pillow. Furthermore, reported compliance and overall satisfaction appeared to be highly concordant both at 1 month and 6 months follow-up.

Indexed as

Bedding and LinensPatient PositioningSupine PositionContinuous Positive Airway PressureFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMalePhysical Therapy ModalitiesProspective StudiesSleepSleep Apnea, ObstructiveSleep StagesTreatment OutcomePositional obstructive sleep apneaPositional therapySleep positioning pillowSleep-related breathing disorders

Identifiers

PMID29516264

DOI10.1007/s11325-018-1650-6

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.