Sleep Apnea Screening Using Simplified Systems. Significance Of Methods Beyond Six-Channel Polygraphy

Measurement methods with graded complexity are available for diagnosis of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in the sleep laboratory as well as for home sleep apnea testing (HSAT), and can be classified according to different systems. Simplified HSAT measurements that record fewer parameters than stipulated by the Federal Joint Committee (Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss, G-BA) guideline for outpatient diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea can indicate SDB and be used as a screening tool in patient groups with a high prevalence of SDB. Therefore, different measurement methods with a differing significance of results are applied. New minimal- and noncontact technologies for recording and analysis of surrogate parameters are under development. If these are validated by clinical studies, they will increase the potential to effectively detect SDB requiring treatment and provide a means of objectively monitoring SDB treatment.