Improving sleep apnea treatment adherence after traumatic brain injury: A nonrandomized feasibility study.

Purpose/Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of a psychological intervention designed to increase Positive Airway Pressure (PAP) adherence, adapted with cognitive accommodations for comorbid obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Research Method/Design: This was an open-label single arm (nonrandomized) study. Eligibility criteria were moderate-to-severe TBI, OSA diagnosis, prescribed PAP, nonadherent, and able to consent. Participants were recruited from inpatient and outpatient settings at a tertiary care hospital. The four-module manualized intervention was delivered primarily via telehealth. Feasibility aspects measured included eligibility, recruitment, and retention rates; session duration and attendance; and characteristics of outcome and process measures (e.g., completion rates, data distribution). Symptom measures included the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Fatigue Severity Scale, Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire, Self-Efficacy Measure for Sleep Apnea, OSA Treatment Barriers Questionnaire (OTBQ), and Kim Alliance Scale-Revised. Results: Of 230 persons screened, 14.3% were eligible. Recruitment rate (n = 17) was 51.5%. Retention rate (n = 13) was 76.5%. Treatment completers had no missing data. The OTBQ deviated from normality, but other measures had adequate skew (< 2.0) and kurtosis (< 7.0) and were free from significant floor and ceiling effects (<15%). Change score effect sizes were minimal to moderate (d = .10-.77). There were no adverse events. Conclusions/Implications: These results inform ways in which procedures should be modified to enhance the success of a future clinical trial testing the efficacy of this adherence intervention. Inclusion criteria should be reconsidered, and recruitment sites expanded, to capture eligible persons and adequately power an efficacy study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]