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Compliance of Sleep Apnea Syndrome Patients with CPAP Therapy
E. Daskalopoulou1, Th. Chainopoulou2, Ch. Kourtidou-Papadeli3,
D. Papadopoulos4, M. Stiga5, E. Vlachogiannis6
1Pulmonologist,
2RN,
3Pulmonologist,
4Trainee in Internal Medicine,
5Trainee in Psychiatry,
6Internist, Sleep Lab, Internal Medicine, Department, Saint Paul
General Hospital, Thessaloniki
SUMMARY: The objective of this study was to evaluate compliance with
the use of the CPAP machine in a sample of Greek patients with Sleep Apnea/Hypopnea
Syndrome (SAHS), as well as to investigate which factors influence compliance
in these patients. We studied 138 consecutive patients (114 men, 24 women, mean
age±SD: 52±10 years) who were scheduled for a follow up visit in the last 3
months of the year 1999. The single one eligibility criterion was the presence
of an integral time clock in the CPAP machine. The patients had the machine
in their possession for 20 to 2,315 days (mean value: 379 days). The total time
of CPAP use was 57 to 14,388 hours (mean value: 1733 hours), while daily CPAP
use varied from 0.429 to 10.08 hours (mean: 5.54 h/day). Analysis of study data
showed that 77.5% of the patients used the CPAP machine for more than 4 hours
daily; adjusted compliance was 77%. Apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) was the only
parameter that correlated with daily use (p<0.01) and adjusted compliance (p<0.03).
An inverse significant correlation between adjusted compliance and duration
of CPAP treatment was found. Women used the CPAP machine for a shorter daily
time, showed lower adjusted compliance [64±27 vs. 80±28 (p<0.02)] and reported
more problems with their partners (p=0.0014) compared to men. Conclusively,
the studied sample of Greek SAHS patients shows a generally satisfactory compliance
with CPAP therapy, which is similar to that reported in the literature. However,
women adduce a variety of reasons to justify their low CPAP use, even though
they have accepted this type of treatment. Pneumon 2004, 17(2):177-185.
Key words: Sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome, CPAP therapy, compliance, adjusted
compliance, complications, gender.
Correspondence: E. Daskalopoulou Leda-Maria Settlement 2 Alcestis str.,
GR-57001 Thessaloniki Tel.: 2310-473618 e-mail: efimagra@otenet.gr
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