In order to derive the most effective pressure, CPAP titration is performed in the sleep laboratory during which the pressure is gradually increased until apneas and hypopneas are abolished in all sleep stages and in all body positions. The technique is however time consuming and labor intensive. Furthermore, the duration of the study may not be sufficient to attain this goal because of patient's poor ability to sleep in this environment or due to difficulty in attaining an appropriate pressure. A predictive algorithm based on demographic, anthropometric, and polysomnographic data was developed to facilitate the selection of a starting pressure during the overnight titration study. Yet, the performance of this model was inconsistent when validated by other centers. One of the potential reasons for the lack of reproducibility is the complex relation of behavioral processes with nonlinear attributes. In areas of complex interactions, the artificial neural network (ANN) has been found to be a more appropriate alternative to linear, parametric statistical tools due to its inherent property of seeking information embedded in relations among variables thought to be independent.
Comparison: time to achieve optimal pressure in the conventional technique versus the intervention model
