title: Objective measurement of compliance with nasal CPAP treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.
abstract: Compliance with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has become a major concern, since this treatment is efficacious, but constraining. In 46 consecutive obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients, we measured compliance with nasal CPAP by establishing a mean rate of use, with a built-in time counter read at three-month intervals, over a mean follow-up period of 232 +/- 27 days. The mean rate of use in the whole group was 5.14 +/- 0.31 hours per day. The acceptance rate was 90.9-93.2%, showing that patient acceptance is not a limitation in the use of nasal CPAP.
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008397:Masks; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011175:Positive-Pressure Respiration / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000628:therapy*