Evaluation of Clinical Tools to Screen and Assess for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a globally recognized medical condition, associated with development of long-term adverse health consequences, including cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, neurocognitive deficiencies, and vehicular and occupational accidents. OSA can be screened effectively, because it can be identified well before the manifestation of the aforementioned poor health and public safety consequences. Additionally, appropriate management of OSA includes an assessment of outcomes before and after therapeutic intervention initiation. OSA clinical screening and outcome assessment tools exist; however, a key existing knowledge gap is identifying which tools are most clinically relevant and efficient to use in clinical practice models. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) commissioned a task force (TF) of sleep medicine experts to identify and evaluate current OSA screening and assessment tools for adult patients and determine if they are reliable, effective, and feasible for use in clinical settings. No single tool met all the TF's objective criteria and subjective evaluation for clinical validity and feasibility to be recommended by the AASM. The TF provides several suggestions for the development of new tools or modifications to existing tools that would enhance their functionality in adults.