Value of STOP-BANG and Berlin questionnaires in the diagnosis and severity prediction of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome

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BackgroundObstructive sleep apnea (OSA) screening questionnaires are used for predicting OSA in sleep clinics or in general population because of the unavailability and time-consuming nature and cost of polysomnography (PSG).Aimof the study This study was conducted to assess the value of STOP-BANG questionnaires as well as Berlin questionnaire in the diagnosis and severity prediction of OSA.Patients and methodsThis study was conducted on 50 patients suspected to have obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) recruited from sleep clinic. STOP-BANG and Berlin questionnaires were administered to all patients with documentation of results and assessment of the validity of these results when compared with full-night PSG.ResultsThe overall mean age of the studied patients was 45.80±10.97 years. Eighty percent constituted OSAHS patients and 20% constituted non-OSAHS patients. The cutoff point of STOP-BANG questionnaire for the diagnosis of OSAHS patients in this study was 2.5 with 82.5% sensitivity and 90% specificity (P<0.001). The cutoff point of Berlin questionnaire N for the diagnosis of OSAHS patients was 1.5 with 90% sensitivity and 80% specificity (P<0.001). For prediction of severity, the cutoff point of STOP-BANG questionnaire for severity scoring of OSAHS patients was 5.5 with 90% sensitivity and 100% specificity (P<0.001). The cutoff point of Berlin questionnaire for the prediction of severe OSAHS patients was 2.5 with 75% sensitivity and 55% specificity (P=0.058).ConclusionSTOP-BANG and Berlin questionnaires are considered valid tools for the diagnosis and severity prediction of OSA with high sensitivity and specificity in comparison with PSG, and hence the number of patients referred for PSG could be decreased.