A eficácia do exercício resistido comparado aos exercícios orofaciais como tratamento dos sintomas e repercussões da síndrome da apneia obstrutiva do sono

Abstract

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disorder caused by obstruction of the upper airways during sleep, causing repetitive episodes of hypoxia, hypercapnia and awakenings, resulting in a decline in sleep quality and cardiometabolic and neurocognitive repercussions. Therefore, resistance exercise and oropharyngeal exercises gain space due to their low cost and easy applicability. Objective: To evaluate the impact of resistance exercise and oropharyngeal exercises on symptoms and repercussions in patients with OSA. Methodology: This clinical trial lasted 12 weeks, with 51 individuals allocated in a planned manner into three groups: Oropharyngeal, Resistance Exercise and Control. For evaluation, a sociodemographic questionnaire was used, in addition to pre and post evaluation using the Berlin questionnaires (to stratify the risk of OSA), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and physical evaluation with anthropometric measurements, lung and strength tests, in addition to neurocognitive assessment. Results: The present study found a significant effect favoring the oropharyngeal exercise group on the variables of sleep quality (p=0.029), daytime destruction (p=0.003) and MEP (p=0.002). On the other hand, in the resistance exercise group, we found an effect on reducing the risk of OSA (p=0.038), and increasing respiratory muscle strength, MIP (p=0.036) and MEP (p=0.047). There was no significant effect on anthropometric and neurocognitive variables. Conclusion: Therefore, the present study demonstrated that the exercise approach can be effective in the treatment of OSA, where the oropharyngeal muscles suffered significantly from daytime destruction and improved sleep quality, and the resistance exercise reduced the risk of OSA, in addition to increasing respiratory muscle strength. Being especially useful in primary care, and in cases of CPAP non-tolerance.