Physical therapy for sleep apnea: a smartphone application for home-based physical therapy for patients with obstructive sleep apnea

Khue Bui-Diem; Ching-Hsia Hung; Guan-Cheng Zhu; Nguyen Van Tho; Thu Nguyen-Binh; Quan Vu-Tran-Thien; Duy To-Truong; Hoan Ngo-Thanh; Sy Duong-Quy

doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1124059

Physical therapy for sleep apnea: a smartphone application for home-based physical therapy for patients with obstructive sleep apnea

Front Neurol. 2023 May 25:14:1124059. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1124059. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiology - Pathophysiology - Immunology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
² Department of Physical Therapy, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
³ Department of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
⁴ Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
⁵ School of Biomedical Engineering, International University, Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
⁶ Sleep Lab Center, Lam Dong Medical College, Dalat, Vietnam.
⁷ Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Medical College, State College, PA, United States.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: In this study, we described "PT for Sleep Apnea", a smartphone application for home-based physical therapy of patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).

Methods: The application was created in a joint program between the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City (UMP), Vietnam, and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Taiwan. Exercises maneuvers were derived from the exercise program previously published by the partner group at National Cheng Kung University. They included exercises for upper airway and respiratory muscle training and general endurance training.

Results: The application provides video and in-text tutorials for users to follow at home and a schedule function to assist the user in organizing the training program, which may improve the efficacy of home-based physical therapy in patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Conclusion: In the future, our group plans to conduct a user study and randomized-controlled trials to investigate whether our application can benefit patients with OSA.

Keywords: home-based physical therapy; obstructive sleep apnea; physical therapy; respiratory muscle training; smartphone application.

Grants and funding

This research was supported in part by Higher Education Sprout Project, Ministry of Education to the Headquarters of University Advancement at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU). G-CZ was supported by MOST funding for the Recruitment of Visiting Science and Technology Personnel, grant numbers MOST 110-2811-B-006-509 and MOST 110-2811-B-006-523. KB-D was supported by funding from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City (UMP), grant number 04/2021/HD-DHYD-NCKU.