TY - JOUR
T1 - Update on the assessment and investigation of adult obstructive sleep apnoea
AU - Hamilton, Garun S.
AU - Chai-Coetzer, Ching Li
PY - 2019/4
Y1 - 2019/4
N2 - BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is common. Medicare Benefits Schedule rules regarding which patients are eligible for a sleep study without first needing to see a sleep or respiratory specialist have recently changed and incorporate validated questionnaires of OSA risk and subjective sleepiness. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to bring general practitioners (GPs) up to date with the key factors that should be assessed when considering whether a patient has OSA. It also highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the screening questionnaires, and the pros and cons of different types of sleep studies. DISCUSSION: OSA may significantly affect quality of life, mood, safety and cardiovascular risk. Assessment should focus on symptoms. Screening questionnaires have high sensitivity but, when used alone, poor specificity for moderate-to-severe OSA. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) is a poor marker of OSA but does predict response to treatment when elevated. GPs can directly order sleep studies when OSA questionnaires are positive and the ESS is elevated; however, negative questionnaires do not exclude OSA or another sleep disorder.
AB - BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is common. Medicare Benefits Schedule rules regarding which patients are eligible for a sleep study without first needing to see a sleep or respiratory specialist have recently changed and incorporate validated questionnaires of OSA risk and subjective sleepiness. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to bring general practitioners (GPs) up to date with the key factors that should be assessed when considering whether a patient has OSA. It also highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the screening questionnaires, and the pros and cons of different types of sleep studies. DISCUSSION: OSA may significantly affect quality of life, mood, safety and cardiovascular risk. Assessment should focus on symptoms. Screening questionnaires have high sensitivity but, when used alone, poor specificity for moderate-to-severe OSA. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) is a poor marker of OSA but does predict response to treatment when elevated. GPs can directly order sleep studies when OSA questionnaires are positive and the ESS is elevated; however, negative questionnaires do not exclude OSA or another sleep disorder.
KW - Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA)
KW - sleep study
KW - subjective sleepiness
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074087747&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.31128/AJGP-12-18-4777
DO - 10.31128/AJGP-12-18-4777
M3 - Article
C2 - 31256484
AN - SCOPUS:85074087747
VL - 48
SP - 176
EP - 181
JO - Australian Journal of General Practice
JF - Australian Journal of General Practice
SN - 2208-7958
IS - 4
ER -