Lifestyle Intervention in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea

Obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS) is a common disorder characterised by interrupted breathing while sleeping. It is associated with cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. Furthermore, most patients with OSAHS are overweight and have impaired quality of life. Lifestyle interventions incorporating exercise training, dietary advice and behaviour change have been shown to elicit favourable changes in quality of life, body mass/composition and cardiovascular risk in a range of patient groups. However, no study has investigated the impact of lifestyle modification on such health outcomes in patients with OSAHS. This study will address this issue by investigating the effects of a lifestyle intervention on quality of life, body mass/composition and cardiovascular risk in patients with OSAHS. A total of 60 volunteers will be recruited and randomly allocated to one of the two groups. Patients in the intervention group will be offered a 12-week individualised lifestyle programme consisting of supervised exercise training, dietary advice and behaviour change counselling. Patients in the control group will receive an educational booklet detailing healthy eating and exercise guidelines but no supervised or structured intervention. The results of this study will inform the design of a larger, multi-centre randomised controlled trial.