Standards for polysomnography in Canada. The Standards Committees of the Canadian Sleep Society and the Canadian Thoracic Society

Abstract

Objective: To develop standards for polysomnography in Canada in order to assist in the uniform provision of diagnostic and therapeutic services related to sleep disorders.

Options: Uniform testing versus no current Canadian standards.

Outcomes: Uniform delivery of health care; reduction in number of repeat studies and their attendant costs.

Evidence: Availability of diagnostic laboratories and services, and survey responses (written and oral) from directors of sleep laboratories; the American Thoracic Society statement on indications and standards for cardiopulmonary sleep studies was used as a template.

Values: Acceptable standards of practice were based on consensus opinion of the standards committees of the Canadian Sleep Society and the Canadian Thoracic Society. The committees comprised specialists in neurology, psychiatry, psychology, respirology and polysomnographic technology; family practitioners and otolaryngologists were also consulted.

Benefits, harms, costs: Improved level of care and reduction in duplicate or unnecessary testing; establishment, with available resources, of diagnostic sleep laboratories by appropriately qualified physicians in areas where polysomnography is unavailable.

Recommendations: Health care practitioners involved in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders should possess a minimum amount of training (both clinical and research) in sleep disorders medicine. The variables recorded and findings entered in a patient's report must be relevant to the sleep disorder under investigation. The recording equipment must provide reliable, accurate and reproducible data and lend itself to appropriate calibration and quality-control procedures. Facilities for sleep studies must meet patient care safety standards, with provisions for emergency or resuscitative measures when necessary; all personnel must be trained in basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Validation: No previous standards concerning polysomnography in Canada exist. The recommended standards were reviewed by all members of the Canadian Sleep Society and a revised document was approved by the Standards Committee of the Canadian Sleep Society and by the Standards and Executive committees of the Canadian Thoracic Society.

Sponsors: These standards are endorsed by the Canadian Sleep Society and the Canadian Thoracic Society. The cost of preparing this statement was borne by the individual members of the standards committees; no external funding was provided.