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Updated: Oct 19, 2025
Multi-Modal Home Sleep Monitoring in Older Adults
Published on: January 26, 2019
Feasibility and parental perception of home sleep studies during COVID-19: a tertiary sleep centre experience
Susan Jones1, Ross Hanwell1, Tharima Chowdhury1
1Children's Sleep Medicine, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals NHS Trust, London, UK.
Insights
Home sleep studies were rapidly implemented during the COVID-19 lockdown. Success rates varied, with younger children and those with autism spectrum disorder experiencing more challenges in home respiratory polygraphy (HRP) and oxycapnography (O2/CO2) studies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Respiratory Physiology
- Public Health during Pandemics
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated rapid adaptation of healthcare services, including diagnostic procedures.
- Home-based sleep studies emerged as a crucial alternative to inpatient evaluations during the UK's first lockdown.
- Assessing the feasibility and success factors of these remote studies is vital for continued service provision.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the completion rates and family feedback for home sleep studies implemented during the COVID-19 lockdown.
- To identify factors predicting the success or failure of home-based respiratory polygraphy (HRP) and oxycapnography (O2/CO2) studies.
- To understand the challenges associated with transitioning pediatric sleep studies from inpatient to home settings.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 137 pediatric patients who underwent home sleep studies (HRP or O2/CO2) between March 30 and June 30, 2020.
- Definition of study success based on achieving at least 4 hours of analyzable data.
- Statistical analysis to identify predictors of study success, including age and neurodevelopmental diagnoses.
Main Results:
- Overall, 56% of HRP studies and 83% of O2/CO2 studies were successful.
- Younger children (under 5 years) and patients diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder showed significantly lower success rates (29% in the latter group).
- Family feedback was collected to assess the experience of remote monitoring.
Conclusions:
- Rapid implementation of home sleep studies is feasible, offering a viable alternative during public health crises.
- Higher failure rates in specific pediatric populations (younger children, those with neurodevelopmental disorders) present challenges that require targeted solutions.
- Further research is needed to optimize home sleep study protocols for diverse pediatric populations.
Objective:
Rapid implementation of home sleep studies during the first UK COVID-19 'lockdown'-completion rates, family feedback and factors that predict success.
Design:
We included all patients who had a sleep study conducted at home instead of as inpatient from 30 March 2020 to 30 June 2020. Studies with less than 4 hours of data for analysis were defined 'unsuccessful'.
Results:
137 patients were included. 96 underwent home respiratory polygraphy (HRP), median age 5.5 years. 41 had oxycapnography (O2/CO2), median age 5 years. 56% HRP and 83% O2/CO2 were successful. A diagnosis of autism predicted a lower success rate (29%) as did age under 5 years.
Conclusion:
Switching studies rapidly from an inpatient to a home environment is possible, but there are several challenges that include a higher failure rate in younger children and those with neurodevelopmental disorders.
