title: Compliance to continuous positive airway pressure therapy in a group of Portuguese patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is an emerging public health concern. Although different treatments for OSAHS had been proposed, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the first-line treatment in moderate to serious OSAHS in which success can be achieved by increasing compliance to CPAP.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study analyzes long-term CPAP compliance in patients with OSAHS on CPAP therapy for at least 1 month, who began CPAP therapy between January 2004 and December 2006, followed up at a Portuguese Sleep Outpatient Clinic in Santo António Hospital. Only effective data of CPAP use had been considered. During the first year of CPAP therapy, 96 patients were enrolled and followed up, but 15 patients had discontinued CPAP treatment. CPAP was used on average 5.1 h per day and in 80.1% of the total follow-up days. When compliance is defined as the use of CPAP for a minimum of 4 h per day in at least 70% of the follow-up days, only 54% of patients were classified as compliants during the first year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No statistically significant differences were found throughout the first year (p > 0.05) in terms of the percentage of compliants, controlling for demographic and clinic variables. None of the demographic and clinical baseline variables studied were found to be significant predictor of CPAP compliance (p > 0.05). This study diagnosed a low compliance to CPAP therapy in the studied sample, warning to the need of developing further studies in this area and to the need of implementing strategies to increase CPAP compliance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Santo António Hospital, Oporto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.forename: José Manuel Pinto Chaves
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Caminha
authors.forename: Antonio Martins
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: Denisa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mendonça
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011174:Portugal; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014600:Utilization Review