Screening for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Can Improve Patient Outcomes1
Sleep apnea affects half of all patients with cardiovascular disease. Sleep apnea puts an enormous strain on the heart and remodels the cardiac substrate through stretching, oxidative stress and frequent sympathetic surges.1
Screening for obstructive sleep apnea can improve patient outcomes.2 Screening all patients, new (undiagnosed) and existing (under-titrated CPAP), was reported to improve patient outcomes and have a 42% relative risk reduction in AFib recurrence3-4 and a 38% risk reduction in CVD mortality.2
AHA recommends that screening for sleep
apnea risk should be integrated into routine
clinical care5
A simple yes/no questionnaire called STOP-BANG takes just a few minutes and indicates a high probability of obstructive sleep apnea and supports the required documentation for Medicare and commercial insurance payers.6-7
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References
1. Anter E. Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology. 2017, Atrial Substrate and Triggers of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea
2. Young et al, J Sleep 2008; Sleep Disordered Breathing and Mortality: Eighteen-Year Follow-up of the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort
3. Shulka, A (2015, February 12) Effect of OSA treatment on Atrial Fibrillation Recurrence
4. Neilan et al, JAHA, 2013 Effect of Sleep Apnea and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure on Cardiac Structure and Recurrence of Atrial Fibrillation
5. Circulation. November 2016, Sleep Duration and Quality: Impact on Lifestyle Behaviors and Cardiometabolic Health
6. Chung, F. (2018, March 8). High STOP-BANG score indicates a high probability of obstructive sleep apnea.
7. CMS Medicare Outpatient Sleep Studies Guidelines