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A Brief Report on the Development of The Usability of Sleep Apnea Equipment-Oral Appliance (USE-OA) Questionnaire: A Pilot Study.

Fung CH, Martin JL, Merrill R, Alessi C. A Brief Report on the Development of The Usability of Sleep Apnea Equipment-Oral Appliance (USE-OA) Questionnaire: A Pilot Study. Journal of Dental Sleep Medicine. 2015 Jul 10; 2(3):67-70.

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Abstract:

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To develop a questionnaire for measuring human factors (usability) associated with oral appliance use and to assess the feasibility of administering the questionnaire to patients with obstructive sleep apnea in a clinic setting. METHODS: We developed the 11-item Usability of Sleep Apnea Equipment-Oral Appliance (USE-OA) Questionnaire by adapting items from a published questionnaire that had been developed to assess human factors associated with positive airway pressure device use. Then we distributed the USE-OA to patients at a university dental clinic between January and July 2014. We evaluated our survey methods qualitatively, calculated the response rate, and assessed completeness and response patterns of the USE-OA. RESULTS: Our formative evaluation revealed that the questionnaire was easy to distribute and administer in a clinic setting. Our response rate was 23%. A majority of respondents gave favorable usability ratings, and a small number of respondents gave unfavorable usability ratings. CONCLUSIONS: The USE-OA questionnaire can be easily administered in a dental clinic setting. Additional studies conducted in high-volume sleep oral appliance clinics are needed to assess the psychometric properties of the USE-OA and to compare the results of the USE-OA to direct observation of patients getting their oral appliance ready for use and cleaning their oral appliance.




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