Advances in auto-adjusting positive airway pressure technology for obstructive sleep
apnea now permit this treatment to be initiated outside of the sleep laboratory environment,
bypassing the need for laboratory-based titration studies. Thus far, little research
has addressed how such developments may affect compliance to continuous positive airway
pressure (CPAP). We tested the effect of laboratory CPAP exposure and technologist
support in a retrospective chart review of 98 veterans with obstructive sleep apnea
to determine whether patients who received standard laboratory CPAP titration complied
better with CPAP than did patients who received no laboratory CPAP titration. Fifty
patients underwent standard technician-attended polysomnography (PSG) with CPAP titration,
and 48 patients underwent unattended PSG with no laboratory trial of CPAP (first CPAP
exposure was at home). Objective CPAP compliance measures were obtained from CPAP
units at follow-up visits. Attended-PSG patients wore CPAP significantly longer per
night on average (5.0 hours vs 3.9 hours) and tended to wear CPAP on more nights (76.5%
vs 64.2%) compared with unattended-PSG patients. These findings suggest that patients'
sleep laboratory experience with CPAP and the support and education provided by sleep
technologists are important factors in facilitating CPAP compliance.
KEYWORDS
Continuous positive airway pressure - compliance - obstructive sleep apnea - unattended
polysomnography
REFERENCES
- 1
Young T, Peppard P E, Gottlieb D J.
Epidemiology of obstructive sleep apnea: a population health perspective.
Am J Respir Crit Care Med.
2002;
165
1217-1239
- 2
He J, Kryger M H, Zorick F J, Conway W, Roth T.
Mortality and apnea index in obstructive sleep apnea. Experience in 385 male patients.
Chest.
1988;
94
9-14
- 3
Kribbs N B, Pack A I, Kline L R et al..
Objective measurement of patterns of nasal CPAP use by patients with obstructive sleep
apnea.
Am Rev Respir Dis.
1993;
147
887-895
- 4
Zozula R, Rosen R.
Compliance with continuous positive airway pressure therapy: assessing and improving
treatment outcomes.
Curr Opin Pulm Med.
2001;
7
391-398
- 5
Morales D V, Xie X, Gibbs T, Ballard R D.
The effect of pre-study CPAP education on split-night sleep study outcome.
Sleep.
2001;
24
A418
- 6
Likar L L, Panciera T M, Erickson A D, Rounds S.
Group education sessions and compliance with nasal CPAP therapy.
Chest.
1997;
111
1273-1277
- 7
Neumeyer D A, Sarwar A, Dignan S, Gross P T.
Compliance of CPAP in patients with obstructive sleep apnea who are enrolled in a
CPAP clinic.
Sleep.
2000;
23
A257
- 8
Hoy C J, Vennelle M, Kingshott R N, Engleman H M, Douglas N J.
Can intensive support improve continuous positive airway pressure use in patients
with the sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome?.
Am J Respir Crit Care Med.
1999;
159
1096-1100
- 9
Chervin R D, Theut S, Bassetti C, Aldrich M S.
Compliance with nasal CPAP can be improved by simple interventions.
Sleep.
1997;
20
284-289
- 10
Aloia M S, Di Dio L, Ilniczky N et al..
Improving compliance with nasal CPAP and vigilance in older adults with OAHS.
Sleep Breath.
2001;
5
13-21
- 11
Fletcher E C, Luckett R A.
The effect of positive reinforcement on hourly compliance in nasal continuous positive
airway pressure users with obstructive sleep apnea.
Am Rev Respir Dis.
1991;
143
936-941
- 12
Hui D S, Chan J K, Choy D K et al..
Effects of augmented continuous positive airway pressure education and support on
compliance and outcome in a Chinese population.
Chest.
2000;
117
1410-1416
- 13
D'Ortho M P, Grillier-Lanoir V, Levy P et al..
Constant vs. automatic continuous positive airway pressure therapy: home evaluation.
Chest.
2000;
118
1010-1017
- 14
Teschler H, Wessendorf T E, Farhat A A, Konietzko N, Berthon-Jones M.
Two months auto-adjusting versus conventional nCPAP for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.
Eur Respir J.
2000;
15
990-995
- 15
Ficker J H, Wiest G H, Lehnert G, Wiest B, Hahn E G.
Evaluation of an auto-CPAP device for treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea.
Thorax.
1998;
53
643-648
- 16
Boudewyns A, Grillier-Lanoir V, Willemen M J et al..
Two months follow-up of auto-CPAP treatment in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea.
Thorax.
1999;
54
147-149
- 17
Berthon-Jones M, Lawrence S, Sullivan C E, Grunstein R.
Nasal continuous positive airway pressure treatment: current realities and future.
Sleep.
1996;
19
S131-S135
- 18
Wylie P, Kelly K, Crossett D, Hardy W.
An evaluation of a new self-titrating continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device.
Sleep.
2002;
25
A452-A453
- 19
Teschler H, Farhat A A, Exner V, Konietzko N, Berthon-Jones M.
AutoSet nasal CPAP titration: constancy of pressure, compliance and effectiveness
at 8 month follow-up.
Eur Respir J.
1997;
10
2073-2078
- 20
Stradling J R, Barbour C, Pitson D J, Davies R J.
Automatic nasal continuous positive airway pressure titration in the laboratory: patient
outcomes.
Thorax.
1997;
52
72-75
- 21
Lloberes P, Ballester E, Montserrat J M et al..
Comparison of manual and automatic CPAP titration in patients with sleep apnea/hypopnea
syndrome.
Am J Respir Crit Care Med.
1996;
154
1755-1758
- 22
Hudgel D W, Fung C.
A long-term randomized, cross-over comparison of auto-titrating and standard nasal
continuous airway pressure.
Sleep.
2000;
23
645-648
- 23
Gagnadoux F, Rakotonanahary D, Martins de Araujo M T, Barros-Vieira S, Fleury B.
Long-term efficacy of fixed CPAP recommended by Autoset for OSAS.
Sleep.
1999;
22
1095-1099
- 24
Massie C A, Hart R W.
Preliminary report on the comparison between automatic and manual positive airway
pressure therapy in the home using the AutoSet T.
Sleep.
2000;
23
A264
- 25
Meurice J C, Marc I, Series F.
Efficacy of auto-CPAP in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome.
Am J Respir Crit Care Med.
1996;
153
794-798
- 26
Berkani M, Lofaso F, Chouaid C et al..
CPAP titration by an auto-CPAP device based on snoring detection: a clinical trial
and economic considerations.
Eur Respir J.
1998;
12
759-763
- 27
Fletcher E C, Stich J, Yang K L.
Unattended home diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea without polysomnography.
Arch Fam Med.
2000;
9
168-174
- 28
Massie C A, Hart R W.
AutoSet nasal CPAP titration: In-home validation using comprehensive portable polysomnography.
Sleep.
2000;
23
A263-A264
- 29
Series F.
Accuracy of an unattended home CPAP titration in the treatment of obstructive sleep
apnea.
Am J Respir Crit Care Med.
2000;
162
94-97
- 30
Woodson T B, Han J K.
Non-attended nasal CPAP titration in the home using Autoset Portable II.
Sleep.
2000;
23
A283
- 31
Strollo Jr P J, Sanders M H, Atwood C W.
Positive pressure therapy.
Clin Chest Med.
1998;
19
55-68
- 32 Rechtschaffen A, Kales A A Manual of Standardized Terminology, Techniques, and
Scoring System for Sleep Stages of Human Subjects. Los Angeles; Brain Information
Service/Brain Research Institute, University of California 1968: 1-12
- 33 National Heart Lung and Blood Institute .Clinical Guidelines on the Identification,
Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. Bethesda; National
Institutes of Health 1998: xi-xxx
- 34
Pepin J L, Krieger J, Rodenstein D et al..
Effective compliance during the first 3 months of continuous positive airway pressure.
A European prospective study of 121 patients.
Am J Respir Crit Care Med.
1999;
160
1124-1129
- 35
Konermann M, Sanner B M, Vyleta M et al..
Use of conventional and self-adjusting nasal continuous positive airway pressure for
treatment of severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: a comparative study.
Chest.
1998;
113
714-718
Melanie MeansPh.D.
Psychology Service 116B, VA Medical Center
508 Fulton St.
Durham, NC 27705
Email: mkmeans@duke.edu