Sleep Testing and Mortality in a Propensity-matched Cohort of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Lucas M DonovanTravis WaiLaura J SpeceKevin I DuanMatthew F GriffithAristotle LeonhardRobert PlumleySophia A HayesFernando PicazoKristina CrothersVishesh K KapurBrian N PalenDavid H AuLaura C FeemsterPublished in: Annals of the American Thoracic Society (2023)
Our disparate findings can be interpreted in multiple ways. Sleep testing may indeed cause both reduced mortality and greater incidence of non-fatal adverse outcomes and routine services. However, it is also possible that our findings stem from residual confounding by patients' likelihood of accessing care. Given the limitations of propensity-based analyses, we cannot confidently distinguish these two possibilities. This uncertainty highlights the limitations of using propensity-based analyses to guide patient care and policy decisions.