Longterm compliance of supine avoidance using smartphone apps in patients with positional obstructive sleep apnea

Two smartphone Applications (apps) are available for treatment of positional obstructive sleep apnea (POSA). Fixated to the chest of the patient, the smartphone is able to detect supine position and – using a vibration pattern – train the patient to change the body position. Therapy efficacy and usage was evaluated in a clinical study started in 2014 in the Mannheim university ENT department. Yet, long term compliance was never reported up to date.

Patients with polysomnographic diagnosed POSA (apnea-hypopnea-index (AHI) in supine position > 10 + AHI in non supine position < 10 with 2 times AHI in supine position) were offered to participate.

One month later, PSG was repeated, to evaluate therapy efficacy. Conducting a telephone interview, the compliance and clinical symptoms were recorded after 6 and 24 month. A patient was considered as compliant if using the device for > 4h/night + 5 of 7 days.

33 patients showed up for 2nd PSG (25 responders (AHI < 50% and < 20/h)). Compliance of responders was 79,2% after 6 month and 40% after 24 month. Another 20% kept on using the device on a irregular basis only. The clinical symptoms of OSA disappeared in 60% of the patients after 24 month.

Longterm compliance of supine avoidance using a smartphone app remained on high levels after 24 month and was comparable with other supine avoidance devices. The study furthermore showed the importance of therapy monitoring and counseling of patients even after 24 month.

Publication History

Publication Date:
18 April 2018 (online)