Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the use at home of night-time pulsioxymetry to diagnose obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome in the general population. DESIGN: Cros-sectional study of diagnostic tests. PARTICIPANTS: Random sample of 70 individuals chosen from a Health Centre´s appointment records. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Anamnesis concerning sleep and respiratory disorders during sleep, anthropometric measurements, Epworth´s sleepiness scale, home night-time pulsioxymetry and polysomnography. RESULTS: Visual inspection by oxymetry gave 82% sensitivity (95% CI, 62-93) and 69% specificity (95% CI, 53-82) for the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. Other indices such as the time with oxygen saturation below 90% and the number of desaturations above 4% gave a sensitivity of 82% and 86% and specificity of 63% and 65%, respectively. All the cases of clinically significant obstructive apnoea were diagnosed by pulsioxymetry. CONCLUSIONS: Night-time pulsioxymetry is a useful test for general screening of obstructive sleep apnoea.