Guidance
This guideline covers the diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS), obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with OSAHS (COPD–OSAHS overlap syndrome) in people over 16. It aims to improve recognition, investigation and treatment of these related conditions.
MHRA safety alert for Philips ventilator, CPAP and BiPAP devices: In June 2021, the MHRA issued a National Patient Safety Alert for Philips ventilator, CPAP and BiPAP devices: Potential for patient harm due to inhalation of particles and volatile organic compounds. This applies to all devices manufactured before 26 April 2021.
Recommendations
This guideline includes recommendations on:
- OSAHS initial assessment, diagnosis and management
- OHS initial assessment, diagnosis and management
- COPD–OSAHS overlap syndrome initial assessment, diagnosis and management
- Providing information for people with OSAHS, OHS or COPD–OSAHS overlap syndrome
See visual summaries on the recommendations for:
| OSAHS, OHS and OSAHS-COPD overlap syndrome | OSAHS: investigations and treatment |
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OHS: investigations and treatment
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COPD-OSAHS overlap syndrome: investigations and treatment
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Who is it for?
- Healthcare professionals, including dentists
- Commissioners and providers
- People with OSAHS, OHS or COPD-OSAHS overlap syndrome, and their families and carers
Guideline development process
How we develop NICE guidelines
This guideline was commissioned by NICE and developed by the National Guideline Centre, an independent research group hosted at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP)
Your responsibility
The recommendations in this guideline represent the view of NICE, arrived at after careful consideration of the evidence available. When exercising their judgement, professionals and practitioners are expected to take this guideline fully into account, alongside the individual needs, preferences and values of their patients or the people using their service. It is not mandatory to apply the recommendations, and the guideline does not override the responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families and carers or guardian.
All problems (adverse events) related to a medicine or medical device used for treatment or in a procedure should be reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency using the Yellow Card Scheme.
Local commissioners and providers of healthcare have a responsibility to enable the guideline to be applied when individual professionals and people using services wish to use it. They should do so in the context of local and national priorities for funding and developing services, and in light of their duties to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, to advance equality of opportunity and to reduce health inequalities. Nothing in this guideline should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with complying with those duties.
Commissioners and providers have a responsibility to promote an environmentally sustainable health and care system and should assess and reduce the environmental impact of implementing NICE recommendations wherever possible.