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. 2022 Oct 14;17(10):e0276217.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276217. eCollection 2022.

SANReSP: A new Italian questionnaire to screen patients for obstructive sleep apnea

Salvatore Romano  1 , Anna Lo Bue  1   2 , Adriana Salvaggio  1   2 , Luis V F Oliveira  3 , Luigi Ferini-Strambi  4 , Giuseppe Insalaco  1   2
Affiliations

SANReSP: A new Italian questionnaire to screen patients for obstructive sleep apnea

Salvatore Romano et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Purpose: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common, prevalent, and underdiagnosed disorder. Its lack of diagnosis and treatment is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Previous screening questionnaires investigated parameters including body mass index, age, neck circumference, and sex, in addition to symptoms. This study aimed to validate a new Italian, self-administered, and easy-to-use six-item questionnaire that evaluates only subjective symptoms.

Patients and methods: The present study included 2622 patients (male, 2011; female, 611). Patients who were at least 18 years old, spoke Italian, referred to our sleep clinic for possible OSA, and completed the self-administered SANReSP questionnaire were recruited for the study. The predictive performance of the questionnaire was also evaluated.

Results: Nocturnal study showed 89.9% of OSA patients had apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 5/h; 68.7%, AHI ≥ 15/h; and 48.2%, AHI ≥ 30/h. The optimal SANReSP score for AHI ≥ 5/h was >3 with a sensitivity and specificity of 74.76% and 67.92%, respectively, and an area under receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) of 0.76. For moderate-severe OSA, the optimal SANReSP score was >3 (sensitivity, 78.18%; specificity, 46.53%; ROC, 0.66). For severe OSA, the optimal SANReSP score was >4 (sensitivity, 59.10%; specificity, 64.73%; ROC, 0.65). The probability of OSA increased with higher SANReSP scores (98.7% and 97.9% in men and women, respectively).

Conclusion: The SANReSP questionnaire is a short, easy-to-use, and self-administered screening tool for OSA. Its performance is similar to that of other widely used questionnaires; furthermore, it is advantageous in that it does not require anthropometric measurements.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. SANReSP questionnaire.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Distribution of patients according to their SANReSP score for males and females.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Receiver operating characteristic curves analysis of the SANReSP for all subjects.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Receiver operating characteristic curves analysis of the SANReSP for males and females.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Predicted probabilities plot for AHI ≥5/h, with the corresponding SANReSP score.
Dashed lines indicate the 95% confidence intervals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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