title: Usefulness of the oximetry test for the diagnosis of sleep apnea syndrome in Japan.
abstract: We evaluated the usefulness of oximetry tests that are frequently used as screening tools for sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) by determining the level of agreement between oximetry test results and polysomnography test (PSG) results. We retrospectively examined 135 patients suspected of having SAS. Although the oximetry desaturation index (DSI) seemed better than the oximetry apnea index in the agreement with the polysomnography respiratory disturbance index (RDI), the criteria of DSI greater than or equal to 15 was not sensitive enough to screen for moderate SAS (PSG-RDI >or= 20). Multivariate analyses revealing that body mass index (BMI) as well as DSI correlated well with PSG-RDI, we established a new criterion by adding the BMI score (DSI >or= 15 or BMI >or= 25), which remarkably improved the sensitivity. This criterion may be useful not only in clinical practice but also in medical checkups for asymptomatic patients, and also suggests that obese patients with sleep disturbance should undergo PSGs, irrespective of the DSI score.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular and Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Miyako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Satouchi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kamiryo
authors.forename: Kaori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takenaka
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kasai
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Urata
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Temiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Sho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: Teruaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishiuma
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010092:Oximetry; D017286:Polysomnography; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*