Trial reportJournal of oral rehabilitation2022
The effect of tongue elevation muscle training in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: A randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in Journal of oral rehabilitation, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of six different exercise therapies on sleep indices, cardiopulmonary endurance, and body composition in patients with sleep-related breathing disorders: network meta-analysis of 40 RCTs.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Pooled it
- Comparative effects of weight-loss diet, exercise training, respiratory muscle training, and oropharyngeal muscle training in obstructive sleep apnea: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Assessment and rehabilitation of tongue motor skills with myofunctional therapy in obstructive sleep apnea: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Mandibular advancement devices decrease systolic pressure during the day and night in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of strenghtning oropharyngeal myofunctional therapy combined with cervical spine exercises in mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnoea.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2025Trial
- The effect of tongue elevation muscle training in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: A randomised controlled trial.Journal of oral rehabilitation · 2022Trial
- Telemedicine-delivered myofunctional therapy remodels upper airway anatomy in obstructive sleep apnea: a prospective controlled study.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2026Article
- Diagnostic Accuracy of an Orofacial Scale for the Detection of Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnoea.Journal of oral rehabilitation · 2025Article
- A Novel Approach to the Study of Pathophysiology in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Using the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI).Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Exploring Exercise Interventions for Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Scoping Review.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Review
- The Impact of a Tongue Training Device on Tongue Muscle Strength in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea After Modified Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty: A Pilot Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Comprehensive analysis of orofacial motor skills in children with obstructive sleep apnea.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2024Article
- Preliminary Assessment of an Ambulatory Device Dedicated to Upper Airway Muscle Training in Patients With Sleep Apnea: Proof-of-Concept Study.JMIR biomedical engineering · 2024Article
- Article
- The Effects of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy on Children with OSAHS's Craniomaxillofacial Growth: A Systematic Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Beyond CPAP: modifying upper airway output for the treatment of OSA.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundOropharyngeal myofunctional therapy is a multi-component therapy effective to reduce the severity of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). However, existing protocols are difficult to replicate in the clinical setting. There is a need to isolate the specific effectiveness of each component of the therapy.
objectiveTo assess the effects of a 6 weeks tongue elevation training programme in patients with OSA.
methodsWe conducted a multicentre randomised controlled trial. Eligible participants were adults diagnosed with moderate OSA who presented low adherence to continuous positive airway pressure therapy (mean use <4 h per night). The intervention group completed a 6 weeks tongue elevation training protocol that consisted in anterior tongue elevation strength and endurance tasks with the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument. The control group completed a 6 weeks sham training protocol that involved expiratory muscle training at very low intensity. Polygraphy data, tongue force and endurance, and OSA symptoms were evaluated pre- and post-intervention. The primary outcome was apneoa-hypopnea index (AHI).
resultsTwenty-seven patients (55 ± 11 years) were recruited. According to modified intention-to-treat analysis (n = 25), changes in AHI and c did not significantly differ between groups. Daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale) and tongue endurance significantly improved in the intervention group compared to the control group (p = .015 and .022, respectively). In the intervention group, 75% of participants had a decrease in daytime sleepiness that exceeded the minimal clinically important difference.
conclusionSix weeks of tongue elevation muscle training had no effect on OSA severity.
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Registered trials
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.