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STOP-Bang questionnaire: the validation of a Portuguese version as a screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in primary care

  • Sleep Breathing Physiology and Disorders • Original Article
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Abstract

Introduction

The growing number of suspected patients diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) that are observed in sleep units has increased in the last decade. Therefore, screening methods have become important, especially in primary care (PC).

Aim

This work aimed to test the performance of the STOP-Bang questionnaire for the suspicion/diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea.

Methods

Eight-month prospective study; all patients referred from PC to the respective sleep clinic accompanied by a completed and translated version of the STOP-Bang questionnaire for a clinical evaluation.

Results

Two hundred fifty-nine observed patients were the study object. The age was 55.14 ± 12.07 years, 71.03% were male patients with a neck circumference of 40.97 ± 3.07 cm and BMI of 31.1 ± 5.14 kg/m2. The diagnosis was confirmed in 82.6% of the patients: 34.6% having moderate and 36.8% severe disease. A STOP-Bang score of 3 or more resulted in positive predictive value (PPV) of 88.4% and a sensitivity for OSA of 98.6%. Has the questionnaire score raises, OSA’s probability also raises in a proportional basis. For a STOP-Bang score of 6, the OSA probability reaches 98% and for a score of 8, it reaches 80% for severe OSA. Lower scores, 3 or 2, had a negative predictive value (NPV) for moderate-to-severe OSA of 86.96 and 87.5%, respectively.

Conclusion

As much as we know, our study is the first that applied the STOP-Bang questionnaire in Portuguese PC. We demonstrate that these is a useful tool for the stratification of patients with suspicion and diagnosis of OSA, showing a high sensitivity and PPV. Besides that, the probability of severe OSA steadily increases along with its score and we show an excellent NPV with lower scores.

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Funding

The authors declare that no funding was received for this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USF Condeixa, ACeS Baixo Mondego, ARS Centro, Coimbra, Portugal

    Alexandre Rebelo-Marques, Bruno Valentim & Rosália Pereira

  2. Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Alexandre Rebelo-Marques

  3. UCSP Mealhada, ACeS Baixo Mondego, ARS Centro, Coimbra, Portugal

    Cláudia Vicente

  4. USF Santa Cruz, ACeS Oeste Sul, ARS Lisboa e Vale do Tejo, Lisbon, Portugal

    Marcos Agostinho

  5. Sleep Medicine Centre, Coimbra Hospital and University Center, Coimbra, Portugal

    Maria Fátima Teixeira & Joaquim Moita

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  1. Alexandre Rebelo-Marques
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  2. Cláudia Vicente
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  3. Bruno Valentim
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  4. Marcos Agostinho
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Ethical approval

The authors declare that the protocol of the research work was approved by the Ethics Commission of the Regional Health Administration (ARS Centro) according to the Helsinki Declaration, and all the patients provided written informed consent.

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Rebelo-Marques, A., Vicente, C., Valentim, B. et al. STOP-Bang questionnaire: the validation of a Portuguese version as a screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in primary care. Sleep Breath 22, 757–765 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1608-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1608-0

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