Research critique

Research Articles Critique
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Research Articles Critique
The two research studies aimed to investigate factors that influence patients’ adherence/non-adherence to the use of Continuous Positive Airways Pressure (CPAP) devices in the treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), and explore ways of improving adherence. OSA is a health condition characterized by difficulties in breathing during sleep as a result of the upper airways getting blocked. The patient experiences sleep disruption, and they easily fall asleep during the day. CPAP is a treatment therapy that uses a device that prevents the airwaves from getting blocked.
The first study, “Predictors of continuous positive airway pressure use during the first week of treatment” by Ye, et al., (2012), investigated factors that could signal non-adherence to CPAP use in OSA patients during the first week of treatment. The authors identified race, treatment side effects related to sexual activity (intimacy) and higher residual apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) as the major factors that contributed to lower adherence. Being black, less intimate with partners and having a higher residual AHI were associated with reduced use of CPAP therapy.
In the other study, “Increasing CPAP Adherence Using Psychological Therapies” by Pelletier, Kameg & Barret (2012), the researchers investigated the potential of applying psychology to reinforce patient adherence to the use of CPAP in the treatment of OSA. Specifically, the researchers focused on the beneficial effect of combining usual care with enhanced educational and relaxation training interventions as ways of motivating patients to use CPAP devices consistently and for longer durations, compared to the use of usual care alone. The researchers also aimed to find out the patients’ satisfaction levels with regards to the use of enhanced educational and relaxation training interventions alongside usual care versus under usual care alone. The study findings indicated that enhanced education and relaxation training improves consistency in CPAP use, while it reduces patient satisfaction with the regimen. The authors attributed lower satisfaction to the inconveniences associated with enhanced education and relaxation training, such as spending more time listening to and watching audio-visual compact discs.
The problems addresses by the two research studies are critically significant and relevant. This is in light of the prevalence of OSA among the adult population in the U.S., where both studies were conducted. Ye et al., (2012), states that more than 4% of the male population and 2% of the female population in the U.S. are affected by OSA in the U.S., which costs the American economy 3.4 billion dollars annually in medical bills. Noting that these statistics are based on a 1993 study (Young et al., 1993), it suggests a more serious situation today. Indeed, Pelletier’s, Kame’s &...