Evaluation of the STOP-BANG Screening Questionnaire in a Sleep Clinic

Although obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common, most of the patients are undiagnosed. OSA is associated with a large number of co-morbidities, and thus, it is of great importance to identify the patients and start treatment in order to reduce the risks for complications. Current screening tools are quite unspecific and the golden standard methodology for diagnosis, polysomnography, is expensive and time consuming, thus not suitable for screening. In perioperative medicine the STOP BANG screening questionnaire is currently the recomended screening tool, however this questionnaire has only been evaluated in a sleep clinic in a very limited numbers of patients.