Article Text
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic changed continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) setup pathways. We evaluated patients commenced on CPAP in 2019 (prepandemic) and 2020 (post-first UK wave). Face-to-face (F2F) setup numbers, with CPAP turned on, decreased from 613 patients (98.9%) in 2019, to 6 (1.1%) in 2020. In 2020, setups were F2F without CPAP turned on (403 (71.1%)), or remote (158 (27.9%)). Prepandemic median CPAP usage at first follow-up was 5.4 (2.7–6.9) hours/night and fell by 0.9 hours/night (95% CI 0.5 to 1.2, p<0.0001) in 2020. We found clinically relevant reductions in CPAP usage with pathway changes post-COVID-19.
- COVID-19
- Sleep apnoea
- Non invasive ventilation
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Footnotes
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Contributors The study was conceived and conducted by all authors. Data and statistical analysis, literature search, and initial manuscript preparation was performed by CDT. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests CDT declares consulting fees from Bayer, outside the scope of this work. GG declares grant funding from ResMed UK and travel expenses from Wychwood Communications Limited, both outside the scope of this work. There are no other relevant conflicts of interest.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.