For people living with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and obesity, weight management can be an important part of treatment. GLP-1 medications have brought new attention to how weight loss and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) can work together. Recent findings are encouraging: some patients receiving these medications are more likely to begin PAP therapy and continue ordering supplies. Evidence that the medications directly improve nightly CPAP adherence is still limited.
How GLP-1 Treatment Can Help Sleep Apnea
GLP-1 medications act on a hormone pathway involved in appetite and blood sugar regulation. Tirzepatide acts on both GLP-1 and GIP receptors. In December 2024, the FDA approved tirzepatide, sold as Zepbound, for moderate-to-severe OSA in adults with obesity, alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. This approval applies specifically to Zepbound; it should not be generalized to every GLP-1 medication.
The FDA explains the connection:
“By reducing body weight, studies show that Zepbound also improves OSA.”
Source: FDA, December 20, 2024.
Positive Signals for Staying Engaged With CPAP
CPAP belongs to the broader family of positive airway pressure (PAP) treatments. A Resmed analysis of prescription and diagnosis claims, presented in January 2026, found encouraging differences between people with OSA who had GLP-1 claims and those who did not:
- Starting therapy: PAP initiation was 10.8 percentage points higher in the GLP-1 group.
- Continuing supply orders: PAP resupply rates were 3.1 percentage points higher at one year and 6.2 points higher at three years after setup.
These are absolute percentage-point differences, not increases in hours of use. The analysis used IQVIA data from July 2021 through September 2025. Resmed, a PAP equipment manufacturer, reported the findings in an investor presentation, so they should be read as company-reported observational evidence (Resmed, 2026, slide 5).
Starting PAP and obtaining supplies are encouraging signs of engagement. Claims do not measure how long someone wears a mask each night, and these associations cannot show that GLP-1 treatment caused better adherence.
What Studies of Actual PAP Use Show
Resmed also reported a positive finding from research presented at the 2024 American Thoracic Society conference: people who consistently took their GLP-1 medication had higher PAP use than those who were less consistent with the medication (Resmed research summary, 2024). This supports the possibility that commitment to both treatments goes together. It cannot separate a medication effect from other differences between patients, such as their overall treatment habits.
A separate 2024 conference abstract published in SLEEP examined device-recorded PAP use in adults with OSA and obesity who did not have diabetes. It found no statistically significant difference in adherence or discontinuation between people with and without a recent GLP-1 prescription fill before PAP initiation (SLEEP, 2024, abstract 0621).
That finding helps put the positive resupply data in context. GLP-1 treatment may support engagement with sleep-apnea care, but a direct improvement in nightly CPAP adherence has not been established.
Proven Benefits Alongside PAP Therapy
The randomized SURMOUNT-OSA trials provide stronger evidence for tirzepatide's effect on sleep-apnea severity. One trial enrolled people already using PAP. At 52 weeks, their apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), which counts breathing interruptions per hour of sleep, fell by an average of 29.3 events per hour with tirzepatide, compared with 5.5 with placebo (Malhotra et al., 2024).
PAP was temporarily suspended before the study assessments to measure underlying OSA. These results do not measure improved CPAP adherence or establish when patients can safely stop PAP. The FDA prescribing information, section 14.2 explicitly notes that the trials did not evaluate the timing or appropriateness of stopping PAP.
What This Means for People Using CPAP
CPAP remains part of the prescribed treatment plan unless a clinician reassesses that need. Medication selection depends on health history, other medicines, and potential side effects. Weight changes can also be a reason for a sleep clinician to reassess therapy, especially when comfort or symptoms change.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine advises:
“CPAP should not be discontinued without proper reassessment.”
Source: AASM, September 3, 2025.
For people already using CPAP, these findings offer an encouraging view of weight management and PAP as complementary parts of sleep-apnea care. Better control of obesity-related OSA is a demonstrated benefit of tirzepatide. Whether GLP-1 treatment itself makes consistent nightly CPAP use easier remains an open research question.