Appendix Table 2. MAS versus CPAP.
| Quality assessment | Summary of findings | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No of patients | Effect | |||||||||||
| No of studies | Design | Limitations | Inconsistency | Indirectness | Imprecision | Other considerations |
MAS | CPAP | Relative (95% CI) |
Absolute | Quality | Importance |
| Apnea-Hypopnea Index--Parallel/First Arm (follow-up 0−6 months; measured with: AHI at follow-up; range of scores: 0->30; Better indicated by less) | ||||||||||||
| 3 | randomized trial | very serious1,2,3 | no serious inconsistency | no serious indirectness | no serious imprecision | none | 97 | 94 | − | MD 7 (4.35 to 9.65) |
⊕⊕ΟΟ LOW |
CRITICAL |
| Epworth Sleepiness Score--Parallel/First Arm (follow-up 0−6 months; measured with: ESS at follow-up; range of scores: 0-24; Better indicated by less) | ||||||||||||
| 2 | randomized trial | very serious1,2,3 | no serious inconsistency | serious4 | no serious imprecision | none | 83 | 84 | − | MD 1.35 (−0.28 to 2.99) |
⊕ΟΟΟ VERY LOW |
IMPORTANT4 |
1
Many studies had large losses to follow-up
2
Although all studies had similar mean AHI values, the standard deviations were high for all studies indicating varying degrees of AHI severity in the sample.
3
No blinding
4
The ESS is a subjective measure that may not be sensitive enough to detect subtle changes in daytime sleepiness.