Baseline characteristics of the study participants
| Therapeutic CPAP (n=37) | CPAP withdrawal (n=33) | |
| Anthropometrics | ||
| Age, years | 62.0±10.6 | 60.9±10.8 |
| Sex, male (%) | 31 (83.8%) | 27 (81.8%) |
| Height, cm | 174±9 | 173±8 |
| Weight, kg | 98±19 | 104±19 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 32.7±6.5 | 34.6±5.8 |
| Neck circumference, cm | 43.7±3.8 | 43.6±3.7 |
| Waist circumference, cm | 114.8±13.1 | 117.6±9.9 |
| Hip circumference, cm | 113.3±11.6 | 117.94±10.9 |
| Waist:hip ratio | 1.0±0.1 | 1.0±0.1 |
| Comorbidities | ||
| Active smoker, n (%) | 4 (10.8%) | 4 (12.1%) |
| Ex-smoker, n (%) | 14 (37.8%) | 14 (42.4%) |
| Pack years, py | 14.4±18.5 | 14.9±19.6 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 19 (51.4%) | 20 (60.6%) |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 9 (24.3%) | 9 (27.3%) |
| Coronary artery disease, n (%) | 7 (18.9%) | 3 (9.1%) |
| Heart failure, n (%) | 1 (2.7%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Dyslipidemia, n (%) | 10 (27.0%) | 7 (21.2%) |
| Obesity, n (%) | 22 (59.5%) | 24 (72.7%) |
| OSA characteristics | ||
| OSA diagnosis since, years | 8.4±4.1 | 7.2±5.4 |
| AHI at time of diagnosis, events per hour | 51.8±20.0 | 50.6±24.9 |
| ODI at time of diagnosis, events per hour | 50.0±19.3 | 49.4±25.1 |
| Epworth Sleepiness Scale, points | 7.0±3.5 | 7.5±3.4 |
| CPAP usage, % days of last year | 94±7 | 93±8 |
| Residual AHI under CPAP therapy, events per hour | 2.9±2.6 | 2.6±1.9 |
AHI, apnoea–hypopnoea index; BMI, body mass index;CPAP, continuous positive airway pressure; ODI, oxygen desaturation index; OSA, obstructive sleep apnoea.