The draft guideline is no longer available. The final clinical practice guideline will be available shortly.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) is inviting public comment on a draft clinical practice guideline for the treatment of adult obstructive sleep apnea with positive airway pressure (PAP).

The public comment period is open beginning Saturday, Oct. 14, and ending Wednesday, Nov. 1. AASM members, nonmember health care professionals, patients, insurance companies, advocacy groups, professional medical societies, and other interested members of the public are invited to review the draft guideline and submit their feedback during this open comment period.

The recommendations in this guideline are based on a systematic review of the scientific and clinical literature on the topic available during the time of development, taking into account the quality of the evidence, patient values and preferences, and the harms/benefits associated with the recommendation.1 The recommendations in this manuscript are in draft form and are still subject to substantive changes by the time they are published in final form. They should not be copied, disseminated, or implemented until final publication.

All comments will be reviewed by the task force charged with developing this guideline. Revisions to the draft guideline are at the discretion of the task force, but all submitted comments will be considered and responses internally documented before the guideline is submitted to the AASM Board of Directors for approval for publication in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

The AASM adopted the use of a public comment period in our guideline development process as recommended by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in its standards for systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines.2,3

  1. Morgenthaler TI, Deriy L, Heald JL, Thomas SM. The evolution of the AASM clinical practice guidelines: another step forward. J Clin Sleep Med 2016;12(1):129–135.
  2. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Finding What Works in Health Care: Standards for Systematic Reviews. Released March 23, 2011. Accessed Oct. 14, 2017.
  3. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust: Standards for Developing Trustworthy Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs). Released March 23, 2011. Accessed Oct. 14, 2017.

Updated January 23, 2019