Management of Sleep Apnea: Concordance Between Nonreference and Reference Centers

摘要

Background: When a disorder is as prevalent as sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (SAHS),ndifferent medical levels and approaches should be involved in facilitating the diagnosis, atnleast, of patients with symptoms that disrupt social or working life, and of risk groups such asnprofessional drivers. We sought to analyze the degree of concordance between managementnand treatment decisions for SAHS patients at sleep reference centers (RCs) and at non-RCsn(NRCs).nMaterials and methods: Eighty-eight consecutive patients with suspected SAHS were referrednby family doctors to the NRC. The patients were studied randomly at the RC, using fullnpolysomnography, and at the NRC, employing respiratory polygraphy. The concordance innthe therapeutic approach between both centers was analyzed via the outcomes, and thenphysiologic variables of the sleep studies were also evaluated.nResults: The concordance in the final clinical decision was substantial. There was a good agreementnwith respect to apnea-hypopnea index as a categoric variable and as a continuous variable.nConclusions: These results suggest that respiratory physicians with simple sleep studies are able tonmanage a large number of patients with SAHS.nTrial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT 00424658.