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

Izolde Bouloukaki; Athanasia Pataka; Eleni Mauroudi; Violeta Moniaki; Michalis Fanaridis; Sophia E Schiza

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

J Clin Sleep Med. 2023 Oct 1;19(10):1743-1751. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.10664.

Authors

Izolde Bouloukaki¹, Athanasia Pataka², Eleni Mauroudi¹, Violeta Moniaki¹, Michalis Fanaridis¹, Sophia E Schiza¹

Affiliations

¹ Sleep Disorders Center, Department of Respiratory Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
² Department of Respiratory Medicine, G Papanikolaou Hospital, Respiratory Failure Unit, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

PMID: 37218340
PMCID: PMC10545996 (available on 2024-10-01)
DOI: 10.5664/jcsm.10664

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.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Communicable Disease Control
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure / methods
Greece / epidemiology
Humans
Pandemics
Patient Compliance
Sleep Apnea, Obstructive* / diagnosis
Sleep Apnea, Obstructive* / epidemiology
Sleep Apnea, Obstructive* / therapy
Telemedicine*