Telemedicine for long-term continuous positive airway pressure therapy: A six-month follow-up study in Japan using propensity score matching

Background

During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Japan's health insurance system allowed continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) telephone consultations to extend clinic visit intervals. This study aimed to determine whether 6-month CPAP adherence in the telemedicine (TM) group was inferior to that in the standard care group.

Methods

Patients receiving long-term CPAP therapy for at least 6 months for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) from two clinics in Japan were recruited between May and July 2020. The TM group consisted of patients who had not visited the clinic in person for 6 months, with physicians providing telephone consultations every 1–2 months. The standard care group included patients who visited the clinic monthly for physician consultation. In both groups, physicians reviewed CPAP usage data via telemonitoring. Patients were classified into three groups according to change in adherence: ≤ −5%, > −5 to <5%, and ≥5%. The primary outcome was the number of patients with worsened CPAP adherence (≤−5%).

Results

Of the 479 patients in the TM group and 146 in the standard care group, 120 were matched using propensity score 1:1 nearest neighbor matching and selected from both groups. Adherence worsened in 41 (34.2%) and 32 (26.7 %) patients in the TM and standard care groups, respectively. The TM group was not inferior to the standard care group in terms of the proportion of patients with worsened CPAP adherence (χ² = 1.81, df = 1, P = 0.178).

Conclusions

This study found no significant difference in the 6-month CPAP adherence between the TM and standard care groups.