Patients with Obesity, Sleep Apnea Rarely Received Weight Management Services
Researchers determined the prevalence of weight management interventions among patients who were obese and received an obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis.
A very small percentage of patients with obesity and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) received weight management services after diagnosis, according to data published in CHEST Pulmonary.1 Despite new and increasingly available recommendations to assist patients struggling with obesity, these findings underscore the improvements necessary for weight management services.
“Obesity is the single greatest risk factor for the development of OSA, and weight loss is an important part of OSA management,” wrote authors of the study. “Numerous randomized trials demonstrate that lifestyle-based weight management interventions lead to clinically meaningful weight loss, reductions in OSA severity, and improvements in symptoms.”
Obesity and OSA are both significantly prevalent across multiple population groups. | image credit: Kassandra / stock.adobe.com
As previous research has shown, OSA and obesity are indeed linked. Because of the fat deposits in a patient with obesity’s upper respiratory tract, this population is at the greatest risk of developing OSA, causing providers and research experts to suggest all individuals with obesity screen for OSA upon diagnosis.2
Both conditions are heavily prominent across the globe, with obesity causing more than 3.71 million deaths in 2021, according to data published in The Lancet.3 In another study regarding the prevalence of OSA among adults, researchers found a significant proportion of diagnoses amongst the study population. They also found that OSA advanced with age, among men, and as body mass index (BMI) increased.4
READ MORE: Eli Lilly Launches Self-Pay Vials of Tirzepatide for Patients With Obesity
“When lifestyle modification alone is ineffective, additional services for weight management, including pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery, are known to reduce weight and improve OSA severity,” they continued.1 “Given these known benefits, OSA clinical practice guidelines advocate widespread delivery of weight management care, including referrals for comprehensive lifestyle interventions for all patients with OSA and obesity.”
By gathering patients who were obese and had OSA, researchers aimed to determine the frequency of this populations’ use of weight management services. If a higher proportion of the population receives services, it will mean that weight management is accessible and affordable. However, a lower prominence in weight management services may translate to a gap in access or education, forcing patients with obesity or OSA to go undiagnosed, untreated, and uncared for.
Using national data, the researchers gathered a total of 152,976 participants (89.4% men; average age, 53.1 years; average BMI, 35.5 kg/m2). Amongst the entire study population, just 10% of participants received weight management services from months 3 to 12 in the study period. This percent accounted for just over 15,000 patients with obesity and OSA receiving regimented services to help them lose weight.
“Among patients with obesity and newly diagnosed OSA, we found that patients rarely receive weight management services within the first 3-12 months after diagnosis of OSA,” added the authors.1 “Even when defining the outcome of receipt of a weight loss intervention broadly to include lifestyle programs, medications, and surgery in order to capture the range of strategies that can be offered by the health system, only 1 in 10 patients receive any of these formal interventions.”
Patients with obesity are most likely to begin a new weight management intervention when they receive diagnosis for a separate condition. With such a strong link between obesity and OSA, researchers may have expected the data to show far greater receipts of weight management services.
Providers recommend that patients with obesity start new weight-loss interventions directly following an OSA diagnosis. However, study data show that either patients or providers are not abiding by accepted guidelines. It could also represent a severe disparity in access to weight management services, highlighting a greater issue of health equity spanning the entire country.
“A new diagnosis represents an opportunity to consider new therapies. Despite the recommendations of evidence-based guidelines, the receipt of weight management services among patients with obesity and newly diagnosed OSA remains low,” concluded authors of the study.1 “Our findings underscore that additional work is needed to improve access to weight management care across our population. As we do so, we need to promote equitable delivery across racial groups, sexes, geographic regions, and health systems.”
READ MORE: Obesity Management Resource Center
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