ABSTRACT

Objective:

To perform validation tests of obstructive sleep apnoea screening (OSA) tests STOP-Bang and its short version STOP in a Turkish population.

Methods:

In 110 adult patients who were admitted to the Sleep Clinic for polysomnography with an initial diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea, the STOP-Bang questionnaire was used to calculate the sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value and likelihood ratios.

Results:

In the study, no significant difference was obtained between two sexes for the presence of high risk of obstructive sleep apnoea (p>0.05). When apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) ≤5 patients and AHI >5 patients were compared, no significant differences were found in the values of age, sex and body mass index (p>0.05). Mean AHI value was 1.4 in AHI ≤5 patients, while it was 33.8 in AHI >5 patients (p<0.05). Although both STOP and STOP-Bang screening tests have a high sensitivity (>90%) in various severities of OSA (AHI >5, AHI >15 and AHI >30), their specificities were found to be low. As the severity of OSA increases, the positive predictive values of both tests were decreased, while the negative predictive values were increased.

Conclusion:

STOP-Bang with its high sensitivity is a suitable bedside screening test for OSA.