Study: Phone support improves CPAP compliance
By HME News Staff
Updated Wed September 25, 2013
BARCELONA, Spain - CPAP patients who received follow-up phone calls were 10% more compliant, according to a French study.
Dr. Alain Didier from Toulouse University Hospital presented the results of his study at the European Respiratory Society 2013 Annual Congress, held here Sept. 7-11.
In the study, 379 patients received either five follow-up calls during the three months after the initial setup, or a single visit by a technician after 30 days. During the calls, patients were given information about sleep apnea, its consequences and tips on how to use CPAPs.
After four months, CPAP compliance was 10% higher in the follow-up group, resulting in as much as an additional hour of proper use each night. Patients who received all five calls used the device for an average of 307 minutes per night.
"The more calls the patients received, the more CPAP use trended upward," said Dr. Didier in an article on Medscape Medical News.
Average daily use among patients who received follow-up calls was 273 minutes, versus 248 minutes for those who did not.
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