Smartphone Application Intervention on Obstructive Sleep Apnea Among Overweight and Obese High‐Tech Employees: A Randomized Controlled Trial

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an adjusting lifestyle intervention with a smartphone application (app) in managing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) among overweight and obese high‐tech employees. A 6‐months three‐armed randomized controlled trial was employed. A total of 144 eligible participants were randomly allocated into the smartphone app ‘MyFitnessPal’ plus education (MFPE; n = 48), ‘MyFitnessPal’‐only (MFP‐only; n = 50) and the control group ( n = 46) at a 1:1:1 ratio. The data were collected using related questionnaires and portable sleep monitor. Generalized estimating equation was used to analyze data. Results revealed that there was a significant interaction between time and group in BMI (Wald χ 2 = 4.47, p = 0.04) in the MFPE after the 12th week of the intervention. Nevertheless, there was no significant interaction between group and time observed in apnea‐hypopnea index (AHI) score after 24 weeks of intervention. The adjustment lifestyle integrated with an app may offer a simple and cost‐effective approach. The findings of this study may provide precious information for occupational healthcare providers, facilitating health promotion in the workplace for overweight employees with OSA.