Sleep quality, daytime sleepiness and daytime functioning among Thai obstructive sleep apnea patients receiving continuous positive airway pressure therapy

Purpose –The purpose is to assess the effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on sleep quality, daytime sleepiness and daytime functioning among Thai obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. Design/methodology/approach – A repeated measures clinical intervention design was implemented. Participants were 50 patients first time diagnosed with OSA and prescribed CPAP treatment. The intervention composed of CPAP health education, and follow-up evaluation. Data on CPAP adherence were downloaded from Smartcards of the CPAP device. The Thai PSQI, ESS and FSAQ-10 questionnaires were administered at baseline, 1-month, and 3-months. Descriptive statistics and repeated measure analysis with multilevel mixedeffects modeling approach were used. Findings –Thirty-nine participants completed the study. Approximately 53% (n5 25) and 71.1% (n5 27) of the patients adhered to CPAP treatment by the end of the 1and 3-months, respectively. After controlling for patients’ adherence, at 1-month follow-up, the intervention improved quality of sleep (β 5 2.65, 95% CI 5 1.60, 4.13), daytime functioning (β 5 3.24, 95% CI 5 1.87, 4.61) and decreased daytime sleepiness (β5 3.29, 95% CI5 1.85, 4.73). At 3 months, the intervention still improved quality of sleep (β5 3.53, 95% CI 5 2.05, 5.01), and daytime functioning (β 5 4.34, 95% CI 5 2.76, 5.92), and decreased daytime sleepiness (β 5 4.82, 95% CI 5 3.16, 6.49). Originality/value – Adherence to CPAP treatment is effective in improving sleep quality, daytime functioning and reducing daytime sleepiness. Patient-oriented strategies for enhancing CPAP adherence should be developed and implemented as a standard care in sleep clinics.