Diagnostic performance of single airflow channel recording (ApneaLink) in home diagnosis of sleep apnea.
BACKGROUND
ApneaLink is a novel single-channel screening device for sleep apnea detection which is based on pressure-transduced measurement of oronasal airflow, summarised as respiratory disturbance index per hour of recording time (RDI(ApneaLink)). We tested ApneaLink's diagnostic performance in a patient population with high prevalence of sleep apnea.


METHODS
ApneaLink was applied simultaneously with in-laboratory polysomnography (PSG) (n = 102, 24 female, age 54.7 years) and sequentially with PSG in the unattended home setting (n = 131, 37 female, age 59.1 years). Predictive values were computed for apnea-defining thresholds of apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) >or= 5/h, >or=10/h, >or=15/h. Night-to-night variability (NNV) was assessed over three consecutive nights (n = 55, 10 female, age 48.9 years).


RESULTS
RDI(ApneaLink) correlated well with apnea-hypopnea index on PSG (PSG(AHI)) on simultaneous (r = 0.98, bias -0.7) and unattended home application (r = 0.95, bias -0.6). Predictive values were highest at AHI >or= 10/h (in-laboratory: sensitivity 91.1%, specificity 87.5%, LR+ (positive likelihood ratio) 7.4, LR- 0.1; home: sensitivity 80%, specificity 85.5%, LR+5.5, LR- 0.2). NNV was low (V = 0.58 +/- 0.44, range 0-1.69).


CONCLUSIONS
ApneaLink is an accurate screening tool for sleep apnea in a population with high prevalence of the disorder.
Ragette
Regine
R
Ruhrlandklinik, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Tüschener Weg 40, Essen, Germany. regine.ragette@uni-due.de
Wang
Yi
Y
Weinreich
Gerhard
G
Teschler
Helmut
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000295:instrumentation; D008875:Middle Aged; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy