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. 2014 Jan;9(1):45-7.
doi: 10.4103/1817-1737.124444.

Sleep medicine services in Saudi Arabia: The 2013 national survey

Ahmed S Bahammam  1 , Mashni Alsaeed  2 , Mohammed Alahmari  3 , Ibrahim Albalawi  3 , Munir M Sharif  1
Affiliations

Sleep medicine services in Saudi Arabia: The 2013 national survey

Ahmed S Bahammam et al. Ann Thorac Med. 2014 Jan.

Abstract

Background: We conducted this national survey to quantitatively assess sleep medicine services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and to identify obstacles that specialists and hospitals face, precluding the establishment of this service.

Materials and methods: A self-administered questionnaire was designed to collect the following: General information regarding each hospital, information regarding sleep medicine facilities (SFs), the number of beds, the number of sleep studies performed and obstacles to the establishment of SFs. The questionnaire and a cover letter explaining the study objectives were mailed and distributed by respiratory care practitioners to 32 governmental hospitals and 18 private hospitals and medical centers in the KSA.

Results: The survey identified 18 SFs in the KSA. The estimated per capita number of beds/year/100,000 people was 0.11 and the per capita polysomnography (PSG) rate was 18.0 PSG/year/100,000 people. The most important obstacles to the progress of sleep medicine in the KSA were a lack of trained sleep technologists and a lack of sleep medicine specialists.

Conclusion: The sleep medicine services provided in the KSA have improved since the 2005 survey; however, these services are still below the level of service provided in developed countries. Organized efforts are needed to overcome the identified obstacles and challenges to the progress of sleep medicine in the KSA.

Keywords: Polysomnography; quantitative assessment; sleep disorders center; sleep medicine service; sleep technologists.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The most important obstacles facing by the establishment of sleep medicine facilities in hospitals that did not have sleep medicine services in the 2005 and 2013 surveys. More than one reason is possible. PSG=Polysomnography
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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