Effects of first-time overnight CPAP therapy for increasing the complexity of the patient's physiological system

Studies regarding the effects of short-term continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy are not sufficient. A total of 35 patients with moderate to severe untreated OSA were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 comprised 22 patients who underwent polysomnography (PSG) for one night, and Group 2 comprised 13 patients who received PSG combined with CPAP therapy. To evaluate the influence of receiving CPAP therapy for one night, we measured 5 min wrist pulse signals before and after the experiment to assess heart rate variability, as well as novel short time multiscale entropy (sMSE) indicator that examines complexity in physiological signals. The results show that the participants in Group 1 exhibited significant changes in normalized low-frequency power/normalized high-frequency power (nLF/nHF) (0.72 ± 0.09 versus 1.11 ± 0.11, P = 0.006) values before and after the PSG study. By contrast, the participants in Group 2 showed no significant changes in the 3 indicators. Regarding the sMSE indicator, Group 2 patients exhibited significant increases in the sMSE. CPAP therapy administered for one night can reduce the sympathovagal imbalance in patients with moderate to severe untreated OSA and increase the complexity of the patient's physiological system, thereby reflecting their overall improved health.