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Review
. 2023 Jan 20;13(2):296.
doi: 10.3390/life13020296.

Adherence to CPAP Treatment: Can Mindfulness Play a Role?

Athanasia Pataka  1 , Seraphim Chrysovalantis Kotoulas  2 , Panagiotis Raphael Gavrilis  3 , Alice Karkala  1 , Asterios Tzinas  1 , Aimiliza Stefanidou  4
Affiliations
Review

Adherence to CPAP Treatment: Can Mindfulness Play a Role?

Athanasia Pataka et al. Life (Basel). .

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is considered a chronic disease that requires long-term multidisciplinary management for effective treatment. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is still considered the gold standard of therapy. However, CPAP effectiveness is limited due to poor patients' adherence, as almost 50% of patients discontinue treatment after a year. Several interventions have been used in order to increase CPAP adherence. Mindfulness-based therapies have been applied in other sleep disorders such as insomnia but little evidence exists for their application on OSA patients. This review aims to focus on the current data on whether mindfulness interventions may be used in order to increase CPAP adherence and improve the sleep quality of OSA patients. Even though controlled trials of mindfulness and CPAP compliance remain to be performed, this review supports the hypothesis that mindfulness may be used as an adjunct method in order to increase CPAP adherence in OSA patients.

Keywords: CPAP; OSA; adherence; cognitive therapy; mindfulness; obstructive sleep apnea.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary of the different strategies used to increase CPAP adherence. CPAP = Continuous Airway Pressure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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