title: Group education sessions and compliance with nasal CPAP therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine an effective means of improving compliance with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective chart review.
  
  
  METHODS
  An outpatient clinic at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-three patients with OSA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hour meters on CPAP machines provided documentation of nightly machine use. A 2-h group CPAP clinic, scheduled every 6 months, provided education, support, symptom treatment, and equipment monitoring for all CPAP patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-five patients had hour meter readings taken at their first CPAP clinic. In these patients, nightly CPAP use increased from 5.2 +/- 0.6 to 6.3 +/- 0.6 h per night after attendance at one CPAP clinic (p < 0.05). CPAP use increased from 5.2 +/- 0.5 before CPAP clinic to 6.3 +/- 0.6 h per night after attendance at all subsequent CPAP clinics for 34 patients (p < 0.05), an improvement that was sustained over 605 +/- 34 days. Twenty-nine percent of patients increased nightly CPAP use by at least 2 h, while only 6% decreased by > or = 2 h (p < 0.025). Patients receiving supplemental oxygen had higher CPAP use prior to CPAP clinic compared to patients not receiving oxygen (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Attendance in a group clinic designed to encourage patient compliance with CPAP therapy provided a simple and effective means of improving treatment of OSA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Likar
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Panciera
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Erickson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rounds
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D004282:Documentation; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory; D009666:Nose; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011175:Positive-Pressure Respiration / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000628:therapy*; D012944:Social Support