A home sleep study may be clinically appropriate for patients who meet certain criteria and are eligible through their insurance coverage.
Home sleep studies are used to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and should be utilized only as part of a comprehensive sleep evaluation.
Criteria For Home Sleep Study Testing
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has published suggested guidelines for the use of home sleep studies in the diagnosis of OSA. They recommend that it be used only in the context of a comprehensive sleep evaluation and for the following patients:
- Patients with a high pre-test probability of moderate to severe OSA.
- Patients with no significant co-morbid medical conditions. Examples of co-morbid conditions include moderate to severe pulmonary diseases (cystic fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, active asthma, COPD), congestive heart failure, and neuromuscular diseases (ALS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease).
- Patients unable to be studied in a sleep laboratory (i.e non-ambulatory patients).
Patients suspected of having other sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy, are not eligible for an at-home sleep study.
Most patients are referred for an evaluation by a sleep specialist who can decide if a patient is appropriate for a home sleep study. If appropriate, the patient is mailed a device and is instructed on how to use it by a sleep technologist. The patient then mails the device back to the Sleep Center so that information from the device can be retrieved. The study data is then reviewed by our sleep specialist. The next step is a follow-up appointment with our sleep specialist to review the results of the study.