Adherence to treatment with continuous positive airway pressure in the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Adequate compliance with the use of CPAP is cardinal to achieve cardiovascular, metabolic and neuropsychological benefits of treatment.

Assess the factors affecting compliance to the CPAP treatment and analyze the long term acceptance.

Retrospective study on 130 patients treated by CPAP for OSA in the department of pulmonology between 2005 and 2014.  Long term acceptance was analysis using the method of survival analysis.

These patients are characterized by a mean age of 55.4± 10.2 years; main comorbidities were found hypertension (47%), diabetes (25.5%) and COPD (11%). Median baseline apnea-hypopnea index was (AHI), 56 ± 19,5/h. One hundred thirty patients were enrolled with a mean follow up of 75 ± 34 months, 42 patients stopped their treatment, 21% of them in the first 6 months.  In compliant patients, the median value of daily CPAP use was 5, 5 ± 2 hours. Kaplan Meier analysis showed that 96% of patients were still using CPAP at 12 months, 69,4% at 5 years and 64,1% at 10 years. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease was identified as a predictor factor of long term CPAP use. Non observing patients had a higher probability to stop the use of CPAP compared to adherent patients Conclusion: the treatment of OSA with CPAP is generally well accepted in the long term. Treatment dropouts are more common among non-adherent patients justify regular monitoring in the first months of treatment.