Efficiency of a phone coaching program on adherence to continuous positive airway pressure in sleep apnea hypopnea...

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) remains the reference treatment for moderate to severe forms of the Sleep Apnea/Hypopnea Syndrome (SAHS). Compliance to the treatment appears to be a key factor to improving health status of these patients.

We conducted a multicenter, prospective, randomized, controlled, parallel group trial of standard support completed or not within 3 months of coaching sessions for newly diagnosed SAHS patients starting CPAP therapy. This study has been recorded by AFSSAPS with the RCB number: 2009-A01127-50 and received favourably by the Human Studies Committee in France. The coaching session consisted of 5 sessions of telephone-based counselling by competent staff. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients using CPAP more than 3 h per night for 4 months; the secondary outcome was mean hours of CPAP usage in the 2 groups.

Three hundred and seventy-nine patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were randomized. The percentage of patients using CPAP more than 3 h per night for 4 months was 65 % for the standard support group and 75 % for the coached group. This difference reached a statistical significance (χ2 = 3.97). The mean CPAP usage was increased in the coached group versus standard group. A difference of 26 min was observed (4 h34+/-2 h17 and 4 h08+/-2 h25 respectively, p = 0.04).

This study shows that SAHS patients who benefit from phone coaching are statistically more compliant to CPAP than a standard support group is. A simple phone coaching procedure based on knowledge of the disease and reinforcement messages about treatment benefits helps to improve CPAP adherence in SAHS patients.

NCT02435355.