Occupational screening for sleep disorders in 12-h shift nurses using the Berlin Questionnaire

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Sleep Medicine
• Medical Screening Tools

Background:

• The Berlin Questionnaire is validated for sleep apnea screening in clinical settings.
• No occupational studies have reported its screening validity parameters.
• This pilot study aimed to assess sleep-disordered breathing prevalence and Berlin Questionnaire validity in nurses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing symptoms in registered nurses.
• To examine the validity of the Berlin Questionnaire for screening sleep apnea in nurses working 12-h shifts.
• To evaluate the performance of specific Berlin Questionnaire criteria in this population.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-one female nurses working 12-h shifts participated.
• In-laboratory polysomnography was used to diagnose sleep disorders.
• Participants completed the Berlin Questionnaire.

Main Results:

• Prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing (Respiratory Disturbance Index ≥ 5) was 43%.
• Only 24% of nurses were identified as high-risk by the Berlin Questionnaire.
• Sensitivity was 0.33, specificity 0.83, PPV 0.60, NPV 0.63.
• Berlin criterion 3 (obesity or hypertension) best predicted sleep apnea in this group.

Conclusions:

• The Berlin Questionnaire had a high rate of false negatives in nurses.
• The questionnaire needs modification to better capture symptoms in healthcare workers.
• Increasing the weighting of criterion 3 items may improve psychometric properties for this population.