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. 2013:2013:239382.
doi: 10.1155/2013/239382. Epub 2013 Mar 14.

Patient perspective on use of an interactive website for sleep apnea

Carl Stepnowsky  1 , Christine Edwards, Tania Zamora, Robert Barker, Zia Agha
Affiliations

Patient perspective on use of an interactive website for sleep apnea

Carl Stepnowsky et al. Int J Telemed Appl. 2013.

Abstract

Incomplete patient adherence with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) limits the effectiveness of treatment and results in suboptimal obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) outcomes. An interactive website specifically designed for patients with OSA was designed and utilized in a randomized clinical trial to test its effect on increasing CPAP adherence. The goal of this paper is to report on CPAP adherence, internet use, privacy concerns and user satisfaction in using the website. The original project was designed as a randomized, controlled clinical trial of Usual Care (UC, control) versus MyCPAP group (intervention). Questionnaires were administered to evaluate the patient perspective of using the MyCPAP website. Participation in the MyCPAP intervention resulted in higher CPAP adherence at the two-month time point relative to participation in the UC group (3.4 ± 2.4 and 4.1 ± 2.3 hrs/nt; P = 0.02; mean ± SD). Participants randomized to the MyCPAP website increased their use of the internet to obtain OSA related information, but did not increase their use of the internet to get information on general health or medical conditions. Users had very little concern about their CPAP data being viewed daily or being sent over the internet. Future studies should consider the use of newer evaluation criteria for collaborative adaptive interactive technologies.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Adherence data over first 14 nights of CPAP usage.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frequency of response to how often the internet is used to get information on sleep apnea, at both baseline and four months (intervention group, only).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Frequency of response of how often the internet is used to get information on health, at both baseline and at four months (intervention group, only).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Frequency of response of the confidence about the accuracy of the health information found on the internet at baseline and at four months.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Tracking sleep apnea symptoms over time: example of three users.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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