Telemonitor care helps CPAP compliance in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a systemic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

This was a meta-analysis of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) compliance. We compared telemonitor (TM) care with usual care and supervised PAP titration (SPT) in the sleep unit with home auto-adjusting pressure titration (HAPT) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Medline for appropriate randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared TM care with usual care for patients with OSA. Review Manager 5.3 was used for all comparisons and analyses.

Our meta-analysis included 19 studies involving a total of 2464 patients with OSA; CPAP compliance was significantly higher in the TM care group [mean difference (MD) 0.68 h, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.48-0.89 h, I ² = 49%] compared with the usual care group. When we compared SPT and HAPT, two groups did not exhibit significantly different levels of CPAP compliance (MD -0.34 h, 95% CI -0.72-0.05 h, I ² = 91%). Subgroup analysis comparing the SPT with HAPT in CPAP compliance was grouped by follow-up time (⩾3 months or <3 months). Once again, there were no between-group differences in either long-term (MD = 0.56 h, 95% CI = 1.39-0.26 h, I ² = 91%), or short-term (MD = 0.34 h, 95% CI = 0.26-0.27 h, I ² = 14%) follow up.

TM care was associated with significantly greater CPAP compliance compared with usual care. Also, HAPT was not inferior to SPT for CPAP compliance.