The usefulness of a sleep questionnaire and the epworth sleep scale in the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS)

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a common disease associated with significant morbidity, including excessive daytime sleepiness, cardiovascular disease and stroke. Method: We studied prospectively the patients sent to our sleep laboratory for polysomnography (PSG) during 6 months. One-hundred patients were interviewed with a sleep questionnaire, 3 of them were ruled out because the lacking of PSG and 2 who no completed the Epworth sleep scale (ESS). Results: Out of the 95 patients, there were 85 men and 10 women, with a mean age of 47.4 +/- 12.5 years, obesity was found in 42.5 percent, an ESS greater than 11 points was found in 56.8 percent, loud snoring in 93.7 percent, breathing cessation in 68.4 percent, excessive daytime somnolence in 57.9 percent. PSG revealed no OSAS in 14.7 percent, slight OSAS in 27.4 percent, moderate OSAS in 21 percent y severe OSAS in 36.8 percent. Body mass index and breathing cessation reported by the couple had the highest discriminative power with a sensibility of 87 percent and specificity of 50 percent for ruled out severe OSAS. Conclusion: A severe OSAS is less probable when there is absence of breathing cessation during sleep reported by the couple and an IMC <30 Kg/m².