The “Patient Education Changes Outcomes” our PECO study was initiated to evaluate the treatment outcome of patient education on adherence with CPAP therapy. The study continues however to date we have enrolled 124 patients with 48 completing the OSA education module and 43 control subjects.
After patients completed a sleep study at home or in the sleep center they were randomly selected to either complete the education course prior to initiation of CPAP therapy or proceed directly to CPAP therapy without the educational experience.
After the completion of each segment the patient completes a multiple choice quiz with 7-9 questions to promote interactive learning leading to improved retention. On completion of the program the patient receives a certificate of success.
The outcome measurement used is the Medicare 30 day compliance requirement. This requires that a patient utilize therapy for 70% of all nights exceeding 4 hrs nightly, within 30 consecutive days.
Our data to date shows an absolute improvement of 9% and a relative increase of 15% for the education group versus controls. The number needed to treat (NNT) to change one outcome is 11.
We are excited about this positive initial results and are continuing enrollment in the trial and plan to update as available.