Peer-driven intervention raises CPAP adherence in OSA

Key takeaways:

• The peer-driven intervention involved in-person and over-the-phone interaction with trained peer mentors.
• Other measures that improved with the intervention included patient satisfaction and care coordination.

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea partaking in a peer-driven intervention vs. receiving usual care and educational materials had improved CPAP adherence, according to study findings.

“Peer-driven intervention puts a personal touch on showing patients how to use the [CPAP] machine,” Sairam Parthasarathy, MD, director of the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center for Sleep, Circadian and Neuroscience Research and professor and chief of the division of pulmonary, allergy, critical care and sleep medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson’s department of medicine, said in a press release.

“It helps those with sleep apnea demystify CPAP and use it to their advantage,” Parthasarathy continued.

In a multicenter, randomized, parallel-group, controlled trial published in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Parthasarathy and colleagues evaluated 263 patients with OSA who had not been treated with CPAP before to find out how a peer-driven intervention (n = 131) involving in-person and over-the-phone interaction with trained peer mentors impacts patient satisfaction, CPAP adherence and care-coordination at 6 months vs. a control intervention involving usual care and educational materials (n = 132).

Notably, an interactive voice response system was a part of the peer intervention group, and this allowed for communication “without directly talking to their peer mentor,” according to the release.

Between the two sets of patients, researchers observed that those receiving the peer-driven intervention vs. usual care reported a higher level of satisfaction with sleep-specific services based on Likert scale scores (4.57 vs. 4.1; P < .001).

Among patients assigned to the peer-driven intervention, the covariate-adjusted average number of hours spent using CPAP a night was 4.5, whereas the average was only 3.7 hours a night among those assigned to usual care (P < .01). Following a similar pattern, the percentage of nights with more than 4 hours of CPAP usage was higher in the group receiving the peer-driven intervention (62% vs. 51.4%; P = .023).

Researchers further found that patients receiving the peer-driven intervention had more improvement in two additional measures vs. patients receiving usual care: Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care rating (adjusted difference, 0.33; P = .009) and Client Perception of Coordination Questionnaire score (adjusted difference, 0.15; P = .035).

In contrast, the adjusted difference in Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Provider and System ratings between the two groups did not reach significance, according to the study. This was also the case when researchers assessed functional outcomes in sleep questionnaire scores, Epworth sleepiness scores, psychomotor vigilance test reaction times, BMI and blood pressure.

“The ability to talk to a person who has been through the same struggle that you have and being able to interact with someone rather than being left to your own devices can make for a world of difference,” Parthasarathy said in the release.

Reference:

• Peer support could help millions with sleep apnea slumber easier, study says. https://healthsciences.arizona.edu/news/releases/peer-support-could-help-millions-sleep-apnea-slumber-easier-study-says. Published Dec. 4, 2024. Accessed Dec. 5, 2024.