Patient Perspectives of a Sleep Apnea Treatment Adherence Intervention Adapted for Persons with Traumatic Brain...

To summarize patient perspectives after participating in a behavioral intervention designed to improve adherence to positive airway pressure therapy in Veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and obstructive sleep apnea. The four-module adherence intervention was based on Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavior Therapy principles and was adapted for persons with cognitive impairments.

Post-intervention semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 patients with moderate-to-severe TBI. This qualitative study used a pragmatic and deductive approach with the Health Belief Model as the overarching framework. Two qualitative researchers coded and analyzed data with saturation reached after six interviews.

The sample mean age was 51.4 years (SD = 10.8), who were on average 9.4 years post-TBI (SD = 10.1) and 6.8 years (SD = 5.1) post-OSA diagnosis. Patient feedback was organized into four themes that aligned with the Health Belief Model and two themes pertaining to logistics.

Participation in this adherence intervention was associated with increased awareness of OSA severity, its impact on them, and treatment benefits. Future research should examine the effectiveness of the intervention in real world clinical settings and obtain consumer input from treating clinicians to optimize the program and patient health and functioning.