Telemedicine in the Management of Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Evidence from the Literature and Practical Issues. A Consensus Document from the Task Force for Telemedicine in Respiratory Diseases, Part of the Italian Society of Telemedicine.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a high prevalent condition associated with relevant cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, determining the consume of a great amount of health care resources. Diagnosis and treatment of OSA are generally performed in OSA Units (OUs). However, although the large expansion of OUs in western countries, these still fail to cope with the increasing number of patients requiring care. Since long time, well before the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine (TM) has been explored as a tool to monitor both physiological parameters during sleep and treatment outcomes. Recently, the availability of wireless data transmission technology and new TM solutions has given an impetus to the spread of TM services. Nowadays, these find application throughout the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with OSA and the management of these patients is recognized as the most promising TM application among chronic disorders. A Task Force of experts in respiratory diseases, within the Italian Society of Telemedicine, has recently produced a document on distance management of OSA. Here, we present a revision of literature discussed by the TF and the document produced focusing on how to integrate TM services into the traditional routine care of patients with OSA.