Effects of mindfulness meditation and Acceptance and commitment therapy in patients with obstructive sleep apnea with residual excessive sleepiness: A randomized controlled pilot study

Objective: Assessing the effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on symptoms of OSA, especially on the primary outcome, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS).Methods: Parallel randomized controlled trial. 16 OSA patients with residual EDS (rEDS) were random-ized and assigned to either a standardized 8-week MBSR program or a time-matched program on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Both programs were conducted online. Participants answered questionnaires online at baseline (pre), post-intervention (post), three months after the intervention (follow-up) and were blinded to whether their group was the treatment or active control group but not to group allocation (partial blinding). Three participants dropped out early. Most analyses are based on the remaining 13 patients.Results: There was a significant difference between the MBSR (n = 7) and ACT group (n = 6) in changes of EDS between pre and post (Cohen's d = 1.24, CI [0.01, 2.42]) and a significant reduction of EDS for pa-tients in the ACT group at post (Cohen's d = 1.18 and [0.08, 2.22]). This EDS reduction averaging 2.17 points on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale reached the prespecified bar for clinical significance of two points on that scale. Insomnia symptoms, a secondary outcome, reduced significantly following ACT (Cohen's d = 1.43 [0.23, 2.58]). In MBSR, both participants and the MBSR-trainer judged movement-based exer-cises to be most efficacious.Conclusion: ACT shows potential as adjunctive therapy for OSA with rEDS, although further studies are needed. It seems promising to develop therapeutic approaches for OSA with rEDS using ACT, especially if they are tailored to the needs specific to this patient group. Trial registration: https://www.drks.de; Identifier: DRKS00026812. (c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.