Screening of sleep apnea syndrome using subjective sleepiness evaluation, ESS

Abstract

In the present study, we evaluated daytime sleepiness in 32 patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) using epworth sleepiness scale (ESS). ESS scores of patients with OSAS were significantly higher than those of patients with simple snoring and healthy subjects. ESS scores of patients with OSAS were significantly correlated with apnea-hypopnea index, the longest apnea time, but not with the lowest oxygenation. It is suggested that ESS score is a predictive index of the severity of OSAS. We then examined whether ESS in combination with body mass index (BMI) can identify patients with OSAS among patients complaining of snoring. When the cut off points were 11 in ESS and 25 in BMI, the combination of ESS and BMI correctly classified 18 of 25 patients with OSAS (sensitivity=72.0%) and 7 of 10 patients without OSAS (specificity=70.0%). We concluded that the combination of ESS and BMI was useful for screening of sleep apnea syndrome.