TITLE:
Obstructive sleep apnea: Screenings in primary, secondary and tertiary care settings
AUTHORS:
Atmaram Yarlagadda, Jayaprada Kasaraneni, Anita H. Clayton
KEYWORDS:
Sleep Apnea; Primary Prevention; Insomnia; Obesity; Metabolic Syndrome
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.5 No.8B,
August
15,
2013
ABSTRACT: Insomnia is a major
health problem affecting millions of people around the globe, particularly in
the developed world, substantially impacting on individual work performance and
raising disability costs. Insomnias can be broadly divided into primary and
secondary types. Primary insomnias can further be divided into parasomnias and
dyssomnias. Diagnostic approaches to insomnias can be challenging, thereby complicating the treatment process. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) falls under the
category of primary insomnias and is a good example of frequently missed
diagnoses. The goal of this paper is to document the development of a
self-reporting sleep apnea scale based on graded percentage scores to correlate
with primary, secondary and tertiary risks. Scores falling under fifty percent
represent primary prevention risks of OSA and suggest possible interventions. A
score of fifty percent highlights three core symptoms on the scale as described
in detail below to represent early detection of OSA or secondary prevention.
Finally, scores exceeding fifty percent will include associated risks of comorbidities
as well as other factors contributing to OSA, or tertiary prevention, with
separate scores assigned to individual risk factors. Analysis of final scores
on the proposed scale would therefore, in our opinion help achieve the goal of
grading the risk of OSA from a multidisciplinary preventive care aspect.