Perceived informational needs, side-effects and their consequences on adherence - a comparison between CPAP treated patients with OSAS and healthcare personnel.

OBJECTIVE: To compare perceptions among continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treated patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) and healthcare personnel with regard to informational needs, side-effects and their consequences on adherence.

METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used including 350 CPAP treated OSAS patients from three Swedish hospitals and 105 healthcare personnel from 26 Swedish hospitals. Data collection was performed using two questionnaires covering informational needs, side-effects and adherence to CPAP.

RESULTS: Both groups perceived all surveyed informational areas as very important. Patients perceived the possibilities to learn as significantly greater in all areas (p<0.001) compared to healthcare personnel, and scored significantly higher regarding positive effects on adherence of information about pathophysiology (p<0.05), self-care (p<0.001) and troubleshooting (p<0.01). A total of 11 out of 15 surveyed side-effects were perceived to be more frequent by healthcare personnel (p<0.01-p<0.001). They also scored all side-effects to cause greater problems and decrease the CPAP use to a greater extent (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION: Knowledge about these differences between patients and healthcare personnel regarding educational needs, side-effects and their effects on adherence can be important when designing educational programmes to increase CPAP adherence.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Measurement of these parameters before, during and after educational programs are suggested.