Introduction:

Treatment with positive airway pressure is one of the cornerstones in managing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, access to the equipment and adherence to their use are not easy to achieve. Objective: to evaluate the adherence of patients from the public health system who receive continuous pressure devices free of charge for the treatment of OSA.

Materials and methods:

Patients diagnosed with OSA who received continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices between 2013 and 2018 through PAMI (Programa de Atención Médica Integral, Medical Services Program) , Incluir Salud, and Cobertura Porteña de Salud were retrospectively evaluated.

Results:

Patients from PAMI were older and had a lower score in the Epworth scale. The delay between the consultation and the diagnosis was 1.4 ± 2.4 months. The time from the diagnosis until the equipment was provided was 10.2 ± 9.9 months. Patients from PAMI received the equipment faster (2.7 ± 2.5 months) and were more adherent to follow-up visits. Adherence to clinical follow-up visits in the first year was 46%. Older patients with a lower Epworth score and those using AutoCPAP had a non-significant trend favoring this adherence. The objective adherence measured by memory card or telemonitoring was 40%. The higher body mass index (BMI) was the only factor favoring objective adherence.

Conclusions:

Overcoming the economic limitation to access the equipment does not change the attitude towards adherence and follow-up.

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