[Diagnostic Spectrum and Filtration Function of Outpatient Sleep Clinics]

In a prospective study all first admittances into the outpatient sleep clinics of the Bezirksklinikum Regensburg and the BKH Wöllershof within 6 months were studied. Data of 212 patients (66 % men, median age 51 years, ages from 7 to 88 years) were collected and evaluated. In over 40 % of the cases the symptoms had persisted for more than 5 years. The most common main diagnoses were: obstructive sleep apnea (34 %), psychophysiological insomnia (21 %), restless-legs-syndrome including periodic leg movement in sleep (15 %) and sleeping disorders in the context of affective disorders (8,5 %). After ambulatory diagnostics 56 % were referred to the sleep laboratory within the same hospital, 5 % were referred to other sleep laboratories, 22 % were treated on an outpatient basis, 7,5 % received somatic or psychiatric treatment and only 7 % of the patients did not need further treatment. Therefore the function of an outpatient sleep clinic as a filter for further treatment can be proven.