Many middle-aged men who have sleep apnea either do not seek treatment or are inconsistent about using the airway pressure masks prescribed to them. But what if they thought treatment might improve their golf game?
Dr. Marc L. Benton, a New Jersey pulmonologist who was convinced that patients would improve their golf game if they slept better, tested his hypothesis by recruiting a dozen avid golfers with untreated sleep apnea for a small, preliminary study. Dr. Benton assessed their daytime sleepiness at the beginning of the study and recorded their golf handicap index.The patients were then fitted with nasal positive airway pressure masks and told to wear them every night.
Three to five months later, after they had completed 20 new rounds of golf, the players reported using the masks up to 95 percent of the time. Compliance was also tracked electronically.
The participants were less sleepy during the daytime, and their handicap index improved to 11 from an average of 12.4 before treatment, said Dr. Benton, who presented his findings last week at an international conference of the American College of Chest Physicians in San Diego.
The study has not been reviewed for publication. It was limited because it was not a randomized controlled trial, and neither the patients nor the researchers were blinded about the treatment and the expected outcomes."
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