Evaluating the performance of five scoring systems for prescreening obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome

A comparison of all scoring systems used for screening for obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is lacking. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the performance of five scoring systems for screening for OSAHS, as well as to validate the use of the NoSAS and SACS in the Chinese population.

Data were retrospectively collected from hospital-based, manned, overnight sleep monitoring studies for 105 consecutive outpatients using a portable monitor (PM) device.

The 105 participants had an average age of 46 years and were mostly men (75%). STOP-Bang, SACS, and NoSAS scoring exhibited moderate predictive values at different AHI cutoffs (AUC 0.761-0.853, 0.722-0.854, and 0.724-0.771 respectively), followed by the STOP and Berlin questionnaire (AUC 0.680-0.781vs 0.624-0.724). Both STOP-Bang and SACS showed excellent sensitivity (89.5-100% vs 93.4-94.6%) and negative predictive value (68-100% vs 77.3-90.9%), while STOP-Bang, STOP, and SACS showed low negative likelihood ratios (- LR) (0-0.2).

Our study indicated that the STOP-Bang questionnaire and the SACS both show better predictive value than other scoring systems among the five screening tools for OSAHS. Both scoring systems are simple and easy to implement for screening for OSAHS in the community and in hospitals.