Can primary care providers manage obstructive sleep apnea?

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent condition, with recent estimates indicating that close to 1 billion individuals aged between 30 and 69 years are affected by OSA worldwide, including 425 million who have moderate–severe disease (apnea-hypopnea index ≥15 events/h).1 Despite the availability of effective therapies and overwhelming evidence of the adverse health consequences associated with untreated OSA, the condition remains largely undiagnosed and poses a substantial burden for the global community. In highly populated, poorly resourced regions, such as Africa and Asia, specialist sleep services remain scarce or are non existent. Even in highly developed, well-resourced countries, long waiting times for sleep physician consultations or to access laboratory polysomnography testing are commonly reported,2–4 contributing to substantial delays in OSA diagnosis and treatment initiation, particularly for patients living in rural or remote locations.