MBS requirements and OSA in Brisbane: A recent review of Home Sleep Studies
The Wesley Hospital Sleep Disorders Centre performs in-lab and home diagnostic sleep studies.
We recently reviewed our home sleep study data, being guided by recent Australian review articles.
Results: We found that for patients with positive results meeting the MBS criteria, these tools were useful in flagging patients with OSA: 73.8% of patients who met the MBS requirements had confirmed OSA.
In addition:
- 40% of the total home sleep studies did not meet the MBS criteria.
- 8% of patients who did not meet the MBS requirements were found to have OSA
- The average Respiratory Disturbance Index (RDI) of patients not meeting MBS criteria was 19.5 events per hour of recorded sleep – consistent with (at least) moderate OSA
- 9% of patients who did not meet the MBS criteria, did so by failing the Epworth Sleepiness Score (ESS) requirement, which is subjective in nature.
Conclusion
Our findings from a local Brisbane population are consistent with those of the wider sleep community. It supports the conclusion that negative screening results should not rule out OSA in a primary/GP care setting.
Citation
- Senaratna, C. V., Perret, J. L., Lowe, A. , Bowatte, G. , Abramson, M. J., Thompson, B. , Lodge, C. , Russell, M. , Hamilton, G. S. and Dharmage, S. C. (2019), Detecting sleep apnoea syndrome in primary care with screening questionnaires and the Epworth sleepiness scale. Med. J. Aust., 211: 65-70. doi:10.5694/mja2.50145
- C, H. (2019). Update on the assessment and investigation of adult obstructive sleep apnoea. – PubMed – NCBI. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31256484 [Accessed 12 Aug. 2019].
