What if I would like a sleep study? If you're one in all the roughly 35% of Americans who snore, it's probably crossed your mind. You've read on the Internet or watched a newscast about sleep apnea, a condition related to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. The commonest symptoms are loud snoring, daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and nocturnal respiration. A sleep study is crucial to make a diagnosis.
For many individuals, the thought of a sleep study conjures up visions of being stuck in bed with wires all over and complete strangers watching you, in other words, “Big Brother on steroids.” They often tell their doctors that they may never sleep in such conditions, and sometimes they're right. Several studies have shown that the primary night of sleep within the lab might not be representative of an individual's normal sleep. Fortunately, there may be an answer: a house sleep study.
Fueled by the necessity to cut back health care costs, medical insurance firms have been requiring that limited home sleep studies be performed to verify a diagnosis of sleep apnea. In addition to being inexpensive, this study allows the patient to sleep of their familiar home environment. A serious drawback is that brain wave activity shouldn't be recorded, which implies that necessary sleep information shouldn't be captured. In addition, because the study shouldn't be observed directly by the technician, the standard of the signals could also be insufficient. So it's unclear whether the treatment results of those studied with the house test are similar to those studied within the sleep laboratory.
In a recent large study of patients with suspected insomnia, the effectiveness of treatment for patients diagnosed using home sleep studies was in comparison with those assessed with sleep laboratory data. went. The investigators found that improvements in sleep and quality of life were similar. These results are encouraging, and add to the growing body of data showing that home sleep studies may be used to verify the diagnosis of sleep apnea in most patients.
Although a house sleep study may be used to verify a diagnosis of sleep apnea in most patients, some should really be studied in a sleep laboratory—including those with underlying heart or lung problems. Illness and certain chronic medical conditions, in addition to those suspected of getting sleep apnea along with sleep apnea. Most importantly, home sleep studies may be inaccurate and miss the diagnosis of sleep apnea, or underestimate its severity. If a house sleep study reveals the presence of sleep apnea, it is sensible to go ahead and treat it. However, if a house sleep study is negative, a laboratory sleep study needs to be performed.
