SDANN May Be Used as a Screening Factor of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Adult Individuals

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disease and can be diagnosed with polysomnography (PSG). However, it is limited and has a long waiting time. This study is aimed at evaluating if HRV can be a screening tool for OSA in a real-world setting.

This was a prospective study that enrolled adult patients aged 18 years or older who were suspected of OSA and underwent both PSG and HRV tests. A stepwise multivariable logistic regression analysis was executed to identify predictors of OSA using HRV parameters.

There were 15 patients with simple snoring and 15 patients with OSA who participated in the study. Among the six parameters of HRV, four parameters were included in the predictive model for OSA. Of those, only the standard deviation of the average of NN intervals in all 5-min segments of the entire recording (SDANN) was independently associated with OSA, with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.951 (95% confidence interval of 0.905, 0.999). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of SDANN for OSA was 77.11%. An SDANN cut point of less than 106 ms had a sensitivity of 80.00% and a specificity of 60.00% for identifying OSA.

The HRV test may be used as a screening tool for OSA in adult individuals suspected of OSA. A low SDANN may be an indicator of OSA, with a sensitivity of 80.00%.