Evaluation of five different questionnaires for assessing sleep apnea syndrome in a sleep clinic.
BACKGROUND
Obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Different clinical models and questionnaires have been used to evaluate patients with the highest OSAHS probability.


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the clinical utility of five different questionnaires--STOP, STOPBang (SB), Berlin Questionnaire (BQ), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and 4-Variable Screening Tool (4-V) - in a sleep clinic in order to identify patients at risk for OSAHS and to assess the best possible combination of these tools.


METHODS
1853 (74.4% males) patients (mean age 52±14 years; mean body mass index 32.8±7 kg/m2) visiting a sleep clinic were studied retrospectively.


RESULTS
SB had the highest sensitivity (97.6%), the largest area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) (0.73; 95% CI, 0.7-0.76) and best OR (5.9; 95% CI, 3.6-9.5), but the lowest specificity (12.7%) for AHI > or =15. The 4-V > or = 14 had the highest specificity (74.4%) followed by ESS (67%). BQ had good sensitivity (87%), worse specificity (33%) than 4-V and ESS but better than STOP (13%) and SB (12.7%). The combination of questionnaires did not improve their predictive value.


CONCLUSIONS
SB had the highest sensitivity, OR, and AUC, but rather low specificity, and 4-V the highest specificity. The combination of different questionnaires did not improve their predictive value.
['Pataka|Athanasia|A|', 'Daskalopoulou|Euphemia|E|', 'Kalamaras|George|G|', 'Fekete Passa|Katalin|K|', 'Argyropoulou|Parakevi|P|']
D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D017286:Polysomnography D015203:Reproducibility of Results D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes D056508:Sleep Medicine Specialty D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Evaluation STOPBang Berlin Questionnaire ESS 4-Variable Screening Tool STOP