One year after beginning the program participants were contacted by mail and asked about their current weight, ongoing exercise and diet, and whether they thought it would have been beneficial to have had a structured follow-up program. All but one participant who completed the program had regained some weight, but five of the 10 participants were able to independently maintain weight loss of at least seven percent. All participants said they had maintained an exercise program but that regular face-to-face contact would have assisted with ongoing adherence to a low-energy diet.

The AASM's "Clinical Guideline for the Evaluation, Management and Long-term Care of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Adults" recommends weight loss for all overweight OSA patients. However, weight loss should be combined with a primary treatment for OSA because of the low success rate of dietary programs and the low cure rate by dietary approach alone. The AASM recommends positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy as the treatment of choice for all severity levels of OSA.

Source: American Academy of Sleep Medicine