Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct 1;19(10):1743-1751.
doi: 10.5664/jcsm.10664.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on positive airway pressure adherence and patients' perspectives in Greece: the role of telemedicine

Izolde Bouloukaki  1 , Athanasia Pataka  2 , Eleni Mauroudi  1 , Violeta Moniaki  1 , Michalis Fanaridis  1 , Sophia E Schiza  1
Affiliations

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on positive airway pressure adherence and patients' perspectives in Greece: the role of telemedicine

Izolde Bouloukaki et al. J Clin Sleep Med. .

Abstract

Study objectives: To analyze the impact of national lockdowns in Greece on positive airway pressure adherence, patients' perspectives regarding COVID-19 pandemic and the role of telemedicine.

Methods: 872 obstructive sleep apnea patients from southern and 673 from northern Greece, under positive airway pressure treatment, were evaluated with adherence data available 12 months prior to and 3 months after the first and second lockdown. Telemedicine, locally available as part of a research protocol, was used for patient's follow-up in southern Greece and standard follow-up procedures were implemented in northern Greece. We analyzed the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on positive airway pressure adherence and patients' concerns regarding COVID-19 infection.

Results: Significant difference was noted in positive airway pressure adherence as measured by the hours of use at 12 months prior to and at the 3 months after the first lockdown in southern (5.6 vs 6.6, P = .003) and northern Greece (5.3 vs 6.0, P = .03). The proportion of patients with optimal adherence (≥ 6 hours) increased by 18% (P = .004) in southern and by 9% (P = .20) in northern Greece after the first lockdown and remained steady after the second lockdown in both groups. In southern Greece, 23% of patients reported that they were concerned about getting COVID-19 due to obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis, while only 3% reported decreased sleep duration. Moreover, 9% were concerned that the presence of obstructive sleep apnea would make them more susceptible for worse outcome in case of COVID-19 infection.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that maintaining follow-up using telemedicine had a positive influence pointing out the potential role of digital health.

Citation: Bouloukaki I, Pataka A, Mauroudi E, Moniaki V, Fanaridis M, Schiza SE. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on positive airway pressure adherence and patients' perspectives in Greece: the role of telemedicine. J Clin Sleep Med. 2023;19(10):1743-1751.

Keywords: COVID-19; adherence; obstructive sleep apnea; positive airway pressure; telemedicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All authors have seen and approved the manuscript. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flow chart of the patients included in the two sleep disorders centers in southern (Crete) and northern (Thessaloniki) Greece.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Comparison of median positive airway pressure adherence between South and North Greece.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 . March 11, 2020. . https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-genera... . Accessed December 18, 2022.
    1. Zhu N , Zhang D , Wang W , et al. China Novel Coronavirus Investigating and Research Team . A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019 . N Engl J Med. 2020. ; 382 ( 8 ): 727 – 733 . - PMC - PubMed
    1. Miller MA , Cappuccio FP . A systematic review of COVID-19 and obstructive sleep apnoea . Sleep Med Rev. 2021. ; 55 : 101382 . - PMC - PubMed
    1. Epstein LJ , Kristo D , Strollo PJ Jr , et al. Adult Obstructive Sleep Apnea Task Force of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine . Clinical guideline for the evaluation, management and long-term care of obstructive sleep apnea in adults . J Clin Sleep Med. 2009. ; 5 ( 3 ): 263 – 276 . - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization . Rational use of personal protective equipment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Interim guidance. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/331215/WHO-2019-nCov-IP... . Accessed December 18, 2022.