PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Izolde Bouloukaki AU - Katerina Giannadaki AU - Charalampos Mermigkis AU - Eleni Mauroudi AU - Violeta Moniaki AU - Nikolaos Siafakas AU - Sophia Schiza TI - Intense versus standard follow up to improve continuous positive airway pressure compliance DP - 2013 Sep 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - P3591 VI - 42 IP - Suppl 57 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P3591.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P3591.full SO - Eur Respir J2013 Sep 01; 42 AB - Introduction: Although continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is an effective treatment for Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the use of CPAP is disappointingly low. There is limited data concerning long-term randomized clinical trials in order to prove the long-term efficacy of an intense follow program on improving CPAP use. Therefore we aimed to compare the effects of two interventions, intense and standard, on CPAP adherence, 2 year after CPAP initiation.Methods: Consecutive patients with newly diagnosed OSA, who have been recommended CPAP therapy, were randomized into two groups: the standard with the usual follow up care and the intense with additional visits, phone calls and education. The hours per day and percentage of days CPAP was used were monitored. Subjective daytime sleepiness, reflected by Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), quality of life (Short Form 36-SF-36) and patient’s level of depression (Beck depression scale) were recorded in both groups before and at 2 years after initiation of CPAP.Results: One thousand patients were included, 500 in in each group. We found that the intense follow up group used CPAP significantly more than the standard group (7 versus 5.5 hours per night, respectively, p<0.05) at 2 years after CPAP initiation. There was, also, significant improvement of ESS (p<0.05), SF-36 (p<0.05) and Beck depression scores (p<0.05) in the intensive group.Conclusions: Long-term CPAP usage can be improved with intensive patient support at the time of CPAP initiation. Performance on various questionnaires assessing daytime sleepiness, depression and general quality of life was also improved in the intensive CPAP group, making such an intensive program worthwhile.