AT SLEEP 2017
BOSTON (FRONTLINE MEDICAL NEWS) – In a study of patients without a previous diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), 85% of participants in outpatient arrhythmia clinics had undetected OSA.
The study, which also excluded patients who had ever been treated for OSA, was presented by Colin Shapiro, MD , of the Department of Psychiatry, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
On a 2-night home sleep study, 91% of males and 71% of females were found to have an apnea hypopnea index of 5 or more. Looking at the degrees of apnea, 28% of patients were found to have severe OSA (AHI greater than or equal to 30 events/hour of sleep), 33% had moderate OSA, 24% had mild OSA, and 15% did not have OSA.
A binary logistic regression analysis showed that only age and male gender were significant predictors of OSA.
Along with a home sleep study, researchers tested 75 nonselected consecutive patients (mean age of 64 years; 72% male) from three outpatient arrhythmia clinics for symptoms indicative of OSA using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), the Non-Restorative Sleep Scale (NRSS), and other questionnaires.
On the ESS, 32% of patients had a score of 8 or greater, indicating higher than normal daytime sleepiness. Almost half (47%) of patients had a high level of fatigue on the FSS, and symptoms of nonrestorative sleep were detected in 15% (NRSS score greater than or equal to 46).
Dr. Shapiro noted that “high scores suggestive of daytime sleepiness, fatigue, or insomnia did not particularly predict the presence of OSA in patients with arrhythmia.” He concluded that, “with a hit rate of 85%, just about every patient with an arrhythmia should have a sleep study.”
Dr. Shapiro informed attendees at the annual meeting of the Professional Sleep Societies that he was presenting in place of his student and the abstract’s first author, Dr. Asmaa M. Abumuamar, MD, who was denied a visa to attend the meeting. Dr. Abumuamar is from the Toronto Western Research Institute, University of Toronto.
Dr. Shapiro reported that Dr. Abumuamar has no conflicts of interest. Dr. Shapiro reported that he is an investor in the company that supplied the home sleep testing apparatus.
