Effects of physical therapy with multilevel upper airway exercise for moderate and severe obstructive sleep apnea- A preliminary randomized controlled trial

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized with complete or partial obstruction of upper airway during sleep. Critically compromised by upper airway anatomical impaired properties, oropharyngeal muscle dysfunction is recognized as one of the primary phenotypic traits. The upper airway exercise was targeted on oropharyngeal muscle dysfunction by re-educating and re-shaping the oropharyngeal muscles to maintain the upper airway patency. Although OSA was thought as multilevel collapsibility of the upper airway, it still lacked clinical evidence to prove an effective model of upper airway exercise. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to exam the clinical effects of physical therapy with multilevel upper airway exercise for moderate and severe OSA.