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Abstract Introduction In obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), adherence to positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy is influenced by many factors, including the relationship between patients and their healthcare provider (HCP). Exploring patient perspectives on the facilitators and barriers to initiating and persisting with PAP therapy may help inform PAP promotion strategies. Methods Adult PAP therapy users (aged 18+; ResMed, San Diego) living with OSA were invited to participate in a one-time survey regarding their therapy experience and behaviors. Two open-ended questions asked about the user’s pathway to diagnosis, and opportunities to improve the PAP therapy experience. Guided by an inductive-deductive thematic approach, de-identified qualitative responses were analyzed using a large language model (Enterprise ChatGPT) to better understand PAP users’ interactions and experience with their HCPs. Prompt engineering was employed to optimize classification performance. All task outputs (theme identification) were reviewed by two researchers to ensure contextual relevance and accuracy. Redundant sub-themes were collapsed into appropriate parent themes, and irrelevant content removed. Results Responses from 2,145 PAP therapy users were considered for analyses, with 98 respondents (4.6%) commenting on the HCP experience (mean (SD) age: 63 (12) years, 62% male). Fourteen sub-themes emerged which were then grouped into three main categories: 1) deepening HCP knowledge of OSA presentation, 2) addressing gaps in care, and 3) patient-centric needs. Respondents sought greater OSA awareness among their HCPs, articulated in responses around early identification of OSA signs and symptoms in order to shorten prolonged diagnostic pathways, sometimes spanning years. Responses also highlighted the need to better understand gender-specific differences in symptom presentation. Gaps in care highlighted user desire for better care coordination between specialists and primary care providers, improved follow-up after formal diagnosis and initiation of therapy, and more resources on therapy options. Finally, patient-centric needs included patient-first information on early symptom identification, and greater HCP empathy related to therapy challenges following diagnosis. Conclusion Building awareness around OSA symptoms (including gender-specific symptoms), care coordination, and patient-centered support, may help streamline OSA diagnosis, improve therapy outcomes, and enhance patient experiences. Leveraging AI-informed models to better understand user experience may further refine PAP promotion strategies. Support (if any) ResMed