Quality of life among obstructive sleep apnoea patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of EQ-5D studies

Background: Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is a chronic condition which is associated with extreme daytime sleepiness, cognitive impairment, and other comorbidities and, hence, decreased quality of life (QoL). EQ-5D is one of the most widely used preference-based measures of QoL in patients with different diseases worldwide. This study aims to review the EQ-5D utility value of OSA across primary studies and perform a meta-analysis to derive pooled utility scores for OSA.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the EQ-5D scores of OSA patients adhering to PRISMA guidelines was conducted. Studies reporting EQ-5D utility scores among adult OSA patients were systematically searched across PubMed-Medline, Scopus, and Embase. Selected studies were systematically reviewed and we have assessed the studies for their quality. Meta-analysis was performed using a random-effect model with subgroup analysis to explore heterogeneity.

Results: The search yielded 9,121 articles, of which twenty-eight studies were included in the synthesis. The pooled mean EQ-5D utility score was 0.73 (0.69 to 0.78) with high heterogeneity (I² = 99.6%). The pooled EQ-5D VAS score was 67.14 (63.97 to 70.32) with high heterogeneity (I² = 87.04%). Subgroup analyses indicated significant variability in utility scores across different countries, age groups, and disease severities. The variation of utility values for OSA was influenced by the characteristics of patients, the living environment, and the EQ-5D value set.

Conclusion: The synthesis revealed that the QoL is significantly lower in OSA, and the aggregated quantitative estimates of EQ-5D utility scores are essential inputs for economic evaluations.