The Use of Telemedicine in the Management of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure for the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea

Abstract

Technology utilisation in healthcare has exploded in the last 5 years following the pandemic, with NHS England driving digital improvement as part of the evolution of the NHS. NHS England has focused on several digital initiatives including telemedicine services, electronic health records and the use of artificial intelligence. The use of these technologies are built in to continuous positive airway pressure devices (CPAP) for the treatment of sleep apnoea, however to date the evidence that these technologies improve patient compliance to treatment requires further research.
The thesis combines a mixed-methods approach, an overarching randomised controlled study (RCT) with qualitative semi-structured interviews. The results of the study are presented as three peer-reviewed published articles.
Article 1 (Jones et al., 2024a) compares standard care with two telemedicine interventions and found no statistically significant difference in each arm for CPAP compliance (hours used in 24 hours). However, telemedicine was also shown to be no less effective than standard care.
Article 2 (Jones et al., 2024b) addresses the use of telemedicine interventions compared to standard care, the impact on clinician time for follow-up appointments and the requirement for additional appointments. Arm 1 and Arm 3 (standard care and telemedicine using a modem and smart application) patients required statistically significant less clinical time and additional appointments compared to patients in Arm 2 (telemedicine with modem) suggesting the extra support either face-to-face or via the smart application reduced the patients need for further clinical input.
Article 3 (Jones et al., 2024c) explores the patients lived experience of CPAP, telemedicine and virtual appointments during COVID. The article draws on the patient's experience of their symptoms before diagnosis and their journey from diagnosis to CPAP treatment. It offers an insight into the barriers and facilitators when managing the challenges of CPAP.
The findings contribute to our understanding of the challenges associated with CPAP and the potential of telemedicine to support future delivery of CPAP.

Date of Award	2 Jul 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Portsmouth
Supervisor	Rebecca Stores (Supervisor), Jenny Roddis (Supervisor) & Jason Oakley (Supervisor)