Effectiveness of music on comfort and adherence to continuous positive airway pressure therapy in an adult population with obstructive sleep apnea
Abstract
Background: The most effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. However, CPAP has a low adherence rate, approximately 25% in the first year. Among the most common patient complaints about CPAP use are claustrophobia, which carries the potential to cause severe anxiety, and the sensation of dyspnea, which influences patient levels of comfort (Rotenberg, Murariu & Pang, 2016). At a local multidisciplinary clinic, a clinical director reported an average of 80% nonadherence rate in the previous 12 months despite patient education on OSA and CPAP therapy by the medical staff. Methods: The aim of this quality improvement (QI) project was to implement a nurse-led program to include an education session about CPAP adherence and music intervention for adults treated for obstructive sleep apnea, followed by 12 weeks of patient use of the Respiratory Relief CD  prior to CPAP therapy in the home to improve comfort and CPAP adherence. Measure: The effectiveness of the Respiratory Relief CD  to increase patient comfort was measured using an adapted version of Kolcaba’s General Comfort Questionnaire (GCQ). Participant comfort was collected via this questionnaire postintervention and compared to the preintervention questionnaire. Adherence was measured by reviewing hours used pre- and postintervention from patients’ CPAP compliance reports. Conclusion: The QI project revealed significant positive differences in both CPAP adherence and in comfort within three months (p-value <0.05). Further research is recommended to evaluate long-term effectiveness of use of the Respiratory Relief CD  in addition to a nurse-led education program.
