Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Pregnancy: Assessment of Current Screening Tools

Area of Science:

• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Sleep Medicine
• Diagnostic Accuracy Studies

Background:

• Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common condition that can affect pregnant women.
• Accurate screening tools are needed to identify pregnant women with OSA.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the predictive ability of existing OSA screening tools and their individual questions in identifying OSA in pregnant women.
• To explore potential components for a new, more accurate OSA screening tool for this demographic.

Main Methods:

• A prospective study enrolled 293 third-trimester pregnant patients.
• Participants completed six OSA screening questionnaires and underwent overnight portable sleep monitoring.
• Predictive ability was assessed using area under receiver operating characteristic curves.

Main Results:

• Of 248 patients with sleep monitoring, 12% were diagnosed with OSA.
• OSA-positive patients had higher BMIs, neck circumferences, and comorbidities like hypertension and diabetes.
• Existing screening tools showed modest overall predictive ability (AUC 0.62-0.695), but individual questions were strongly associated with OSA.

Conclusions:

• Current OSA screening tools lack accuracy in third-trimester pregnant women.
• Specific questionnaire components show promise for developing a novel, more effective OSA screening tool for pregnant individuals.