Developed in collaboration with CASA Medical.
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder caused by repetitive collapse of the upper airway during sleep. OSA has a potential effect on performance including reduced alertness, impaired short-term memory and learning, impaired judgement and reasoning, slowed psychomotor response times and sleep deprivation. It is associated with other significant health problems such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation and metabolic syndrome.
Risk factors associated with OSA include:
The clinical diagnosis of OSA is confirmed if the number of obstructive events is more than 5 events per hour of sleep. Many people also have symptoms including headache, daytime sleepiness, loud snoring, witnessed breathing interruptions, or awakenings due to gasping or choking. Moderate and severe sleep apnoea is associated with accidents and other serious health problems.
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)/ Automatic Positive Airway Pressure (APAP) the main treatment for OSA. CPAP/APAP machines are compact, highly portable, and quiet. When CPAP/APAP is used, it should be utilised for at least > 5 hours per night and for 80% of sleep night and must be used must be used in the sleep period immediately prior to aviation duties. If the CPAP/APAP machine used does not have a data download function (most modern ones do), additional annual specialist reports, sleep studies or other tests may be required.
CPAP/ APAP data must be sent to CAA 4 weeks after starting treatment, and usually every three months after that.
Effective control of sleep apnoea reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and congestive heart failure which are also flight safety relevant conditions.
For more information, see Medical Manual: Obstructive sleep apnoea.
