Undiagnosed Obstructive Sleep Apnea as Predictor of 90-Day Readmission for Brain Tumor Patients

Previously undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a known contributor to negative postoperative outcomes. The STOP-Bang questionnaire is a screening tool for OSA that has been validated in both medical and surgical populations. The authors have previously studied this screening tool in a brain tumor population at 30 days. The present study seeks to investigate the effectiveness of this questionnaire, for predicting 90-day readmissions in a population of brain tumor patients with previously undiagnosed OSA.

Included for analysis were all patients undergoing craniotomy for supratentorial neoplasm at a multihospital, single academic medical center. Data were collected from supratentorial craniotomy cases for which the patient was alive at 90 days after surgery (n = 238). Simple logistic regression analyses were used to assess the ability of the STOP-Bang questionnaire and subsequent single variables to accurately predict patient outcomes at 90 days.

The sample included 238 brain tumor admissions, of which 50% were female (n = 119). The average STOP-Bang score was 1.95 ± 1.24 (range 0-7). A 1-unit higher increase in STOP-Bang score accurately predicted 90-day readmissions (odds ratio [OR] = 1.65, P = 0.001), 30- to 90-day emergency department visits (OR = 1.85, P < 0.001), and 30- to 90-day reoperation (OR = 2.32, P < 0.001) with fair accuracy as confirmed by the receiver operating characteristic (C-statistic = 0.65-0.76). However, the STOP-Bang questionnaire did not correlate with home discharge (P = 0.315).

The results of this study suggest that undiagnosed OSA, as evaluated by the STOP-Bang questionnaire, is an effective predictor of readmission risk and health system utilization in a brain tumor craniotomy population with previously undiagnosed OSA.