Abstract

LEIVA AGUERO, Sebastián et al. Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea with Positive Pressure: Position of the Argentinian Association of Respiratory Medicine. Rev. am. med. respir. [online]. 2019, vol.19, n.4, pp.332-348. ISSN 1852-236X.

The Sleep, Oxygen Therapy and Other Home Chronic Treatments Section of the Argentinian Association of Respiratory Medicine (AAMR, for its acronym in ish) proposed the development in our country of a formal document exposing the scientific and cost-economical foundation of the coverage for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). This initiative was based on the need to analyze the vision of local experts who work in the daily current reality of our country, in order to create an informative document for the members of the medical staff. In turn, it encourages the different members of the system to determine clear guidelines that could be used as reference for generating public policies. The agenda began in September, 2018 within a writing staff. Then, editors from five Argentinian provinces made a thorough assessment of published evidence. For the final edition, a face-to-face meeting was arranged to discuss and reach a consensus. The suggested objectives were: to update the scientific base that defines the OSAHS as a health problem of epidemic proportions with health consequences; to analyze cost-efficacy data of CPAP treatment for moderate to severe and mild-with-symptoms forms of the disease and to unify concepts in relation to the minimum necessary quality of treatments to be offered. Finally, the situation in Argentina is analyzed basing on published data, and a proposal is presented for improvement in three levels: social and economic, logistic-administrative and clinical.

Keywords : Sleep Apnea Syndrome; CPAP therapy; Reimbursement; Compliance.

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