Effect of Self-Management on Improving Sleep Apnea Outcomes

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) is a common sleep disorder that is associated with serious medical and psychological complications. Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the treatment of choice for this condition because it is highly effective in reducing the frequency of nocturnal respiratory events, improving sleep architecture, decreasing daytime sleepiness and improving blood pressure. Incomplete patient adherence, however, limits the effectiveness of CPAP therapy and results in sub-optimal patient outcomes. Previous efforts to enhance CPAP adherence have resulted in only modest improvements, have generally not been theory-driven, and have had minimal effects on key patient outcomes such as reduction in OSA symptoms or increase in health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The planned intervention in this proposal, the Sleep Apnea Self-Management Program (SASMP), is based on the rationale that sleep apnea is a chronic disease that requires significant self-care on the part of the patient. We draw on the extensive chronic disease self-management literature to provide a solid theoretical justification for this pragmatic intervention both to better manage key aspects of OSA and to increase CPAP adherence. Chronic disease management programs help reduce symptoms, improve HRQOL, improve treatment adherence, and decrease medical utilization.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) is a common sleep disorder that is associated with serious medical and psychological complications. Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the treatment of choice for this condition because it is highly effective in reducing the frequency of nocturnal respiratory events, improving sleep architecture, decreasing daytime sleepiness and improving blood pressure. Incomplete patient adherence, however, limits the effectiveness of CPAP therapy and results in sub-optimal patient outcomes. Previous efforts to enhance CPAP adherence have resulted in only modest improvements, have generally not been theory-driven, and have had minimal effects on key patient outcomes such as reduction in OSA symptoms or increase in health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The planned intervention in this proposal, the Sleep Apnea Self-Management Program (SASMP), is based on the rationale that sleep apnea is a chronic disease that requires significant self-care on the part of the patient. We draw on the extensive chronic disease self-management literature to provide a solid theoretical justification for this pragmatic intervention both to better manage key aspects of OSA and to increase CPAP adherence. Chronic disease management programs help reduce symptoms, improve HRQOL, improve treatment adherence, and decrease medical utilization. Objectives: The primary aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of the SASMP to Usual Care for improving OSA symptom status, HRQOL, and self-reported medical utilization. A second aim is to examine the extent to which changes in symptoms and HRQOL are mediated by changes in self-efficacy and CPAP adherence. Methods: We will evaluate the Sleep Apnea Self-Management Program (SASMP) by conducting a randomized, controlled trial of the program compared to Usual Care in patients diagnosed with OSA and prescribed CPAP therapy. Participants randomized to the SASMP group will attend 4 weekly educational sessions of 2.5 hours each. Two trained leaders facilitate the program from a scripted manual. Key topics covered in this program include 1) management of OSA symptoms, CPAP side effects, and weight loss; 2) maintaining social contacts and family relationships; and 3) dealing with symptoms of depression and worries about the future. Findings: No results at this time. Status: We are currently engaging in start-up activities. Impact: The results of this project can improve service delivery and improve health outcomes for sleep apnea patients at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, throughout the VA, as well as to any community based sleep clinic.

The investigators examined the data obtained in the Sleep Apnea Self-Management Program at the one-month time point relative to participation in the Usual Care group.

The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a self-rated questionnaire aimed at assessing sleep quality and disturbances over a 1-month period.79 The PSQI measures seven areas of sleep: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction. Items are answered utilizing a Likert scale with 0 being indicative of better sleep and the maximum value of 3 being indicative of poor sleep. The PSQI has acceptable reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.83), test-retest reliability of 0.85, and can distinguish good and poor sleepers (global PSQI score > 5 has diagnostic sensitivity = 89.6% and specificity 86.5%). In scoring the PSQI, seven component scores are derived, each scored 0 (no difficulty) to 3 (severe difficulty). The component scores are summed to produce a global score (range 0 to 21). Higher scores indicate worse sleep quality.

The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a self-rated questionnaire aimed at assessing sleep quality and disturbances over a 1-month period.79 The PSQI measures seven areas of sleep: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction. Items are answered utilizing a Likert scale with 0 being indicative of better sleep and the maximum value of 3 being indicative of poor sleep. The PSQI has acceptable reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.83), test-retest reliability of 0.85, and can distinguish good and poor sleepers (global PSQI score > 5 has diagnostic sensitivity = 89.6% and specificity 86.5%). In scoring the PSQI, seven component scores are derived, each scored 0 (no difficulty) to 3 (severe difficulty). The component scores are summed to produce a global score (range 0 to 21). Higher scores indicate worse sleep quality.

Sleep Apnea Quality of Life Index (SAQLI) which is a 35-item clinician-administered scale composed of five domains: daily functioning, social interactions, emotional functioning, symptoms, and CPAP side effects. . It has high internal consistency, strong content and construct validity, and adequate concurrent and discriminative validity, and is responsive to changes in HRQOL. The key advantages to inclusion of the SAQLI is that it is the only clinician-administered scale in the study and it contains a CPAP side effect scale that is one of the few valid measures of the frequency and amount of CPAP side effects. A very large, All the time A large A moderate to large A moderate A small to moderate A small No, None, Not at all

The QWB-SA is a generic, preference-based measure that produces a single score appropriate for cost-effectiveness estimates and has been used in veteran and other general adult populations. The advantage of having a single, scaled score instead of multiple separate subscale domains is important for comparing interventions. The QWB-SA is a comprehensive measure of health-related quality of life that consists of 78-items and five sections: (I) acute and chronic symptoms; (II) self-care activities; (III) mobility; (IV) physical activity and performance of physical functioning; and (V) social activity. The level of functioning and the subjective symptom reports are then weighted by preference, or utility, on a scale that ranges from 0 (dead) to 1.0 (optimum function).

Social-cognitive theory (SCT) measure 1= Not at all important 5= Extremely important 6= Not applicable

The CES-D is a 10-item self-report measure of depression. The 10-item version has adequate predictive accuracy when compared to the original full-length 20-item version, as well as adequate test-retest correlations and discriminative validity. The total score is calculated by finding the sum of 10 items. Any score equal to or above 10 is considered depressed.

ESS is a widely used subjective measure of excessive daytime sleepiness in research and clinical settings. Participants are asked to indicate how likely they would be to fall asleep in eight different situations on a scale from 0 (not likely) to 3 (highly likely). The situations are designed to vary in sleep-inducing capacity. The ESS scoring range is 0-24, with higher scores reflecting greater daytime sleepiness.

Inclusion Criteria: Clinical diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea No previous use of CPAP Must be a Veteran with residence within San Diego County Exclusion Criteria: Home oxygen therapy Fatal comorbidities (i.e., life expectancy less than 6 mos) Contraindications for CPAP use

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Stepnowsky CJ, Palau JJ, Marler MR, Gifford AL. Pilot randomized trial of the effect of wireless telemonitoring on compliance and treatment efficacy in obstructive sleep apnea. J Med Internet Res. 2007 May 17;9(2):e14. doi: 10.2196/jmir.9.2.e14.

Stepnowsky CJ, Ancoli-Israel S. Sleep and Its Disorders in Seniors. Sleep Med Clin. 2008;3(2):281-293. doi: 10.1016/j.jsmc.2008.01.011. No abstract available.

Deering S, Liu L, Zamora T, Hamilton J, Stepnowsky C. CPAP Adherence is Associated With Attentional Improvements in a Group of Primarily Male Patients With Moderate to Severe OSA. J Clin Sleep Med. 2017 Dec 15;13(12):1423-1428. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.6838.