Abstract
Background:
Obstructive sleep apnea is considered one of the most undiagnosed disorders among adults. The reason behind this phenomenon is due to uncertainty of its symptoms. Therefore, this phenomenological-oriented study is designed to explore the knowledge and awareness of patients’ families toward obstructive sleep apnea.
Methods:
A phenomenological-oriented study was utilized as a qualitative research method. A total of 28 participants who met our inclusion criteria and were selected to participate. They agreed to participate via signed a consent form. A one-on-one semi-structured interview process using the Zoom platform. Transcripts were obtained and analyzed via two independent researchers utilizing an inductive approach. The IRB committee of King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences approved this study (SP21J/100/03).
Results:
Seven themes emerged from the interviews: lifestyle habits, accompanying symptoms, debilitating conditions, difficulties with CPAP, suffering and fear, coping techniques, knowledge, and awareness among society.
Conclusions:
The level of awareness and knowledge among participants was low. The lifestyle of the participants who were exposed to close relatives with OSA is dramatically changed due to many factors such as the patient’s mood, afraid to leave them alone, and fear of losing their loved ones. In addition, participants are afraid of difficulties that may exist if their patients avoid using CPAP or complications of the device itself. Finally, coping techniques were recommended by all the participants to help their loved ones to overcome this disorder.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.