Accuracy of positive airway pressure titration through telemonitoring of auto-adjusting positive airway pressure device connected to a pulse oximetry in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Purpose: In COVID-19 era, all forms of access of patients to the sleep units should be reduced as much as possible when implementing telemedicine. In the field of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) therapy with positive airway pressure (PAP) devices, telemedicine includes the use of built-in software (BIS) and storage of PAPs and remote-controlled data (BISrc data) that are processed and transmitted daily to sleep units. We compared two methods of evaluating the final residual severity of OSA patients in home PAP titration: BISrc data versus nocturnal portable multichannel monitoring (PM) data in PAP (reference method) and to verify whether the efficacy PAP therapy guided by BISrc data was clinically adequate.

Methods: We conducted a real-life prospective study in newly diagnosed patients with OSA. Patients used an auto-adjusting positive airway pressure (AirSense 10 ResMed) with a pulse oximeter that allows daily transfer of BISrc data (apnea hypopnea index [AHI] and SaO ) and remote changes in ventilator setting. Once the PAP titration was completed, the pressure value or ranges were kept constant for 3 days and home PM was repeated.

Results: There were 41 patients with moderate to severe OSA who completed the study. When considering AHI only, the diagnostic accuracy of BISrc on the third day was equal to 97.5%; when considering AHI > 10/h, ODI > 10/h, and SaO  < 90%, the diagnostic accuracy slightly decreased to 90.2%.

Conclusion: In clinical practice, the two measurement methods are equivalent. The use of BISrc data for home titration would reduce the access to sleep units. We urge that widespread use of BISrc be promoted in the current practice of management of OSA.