Article
Quantitative Effects of Trunk and Head Position on the Apnea Hypopnea Index in Obstructive Sleep Apnea
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Published: | April 4, 2012 |
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Objectives: To test the hypothesis that head position, separately from trunk position, is an additionally important factor in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Patients: 300 patients referred to our department because of clinically suspected OSA.
Measurements and Results: Patients underwent overnight polysomnography with 2 position sensors: one on the trunk, and one in the mid-forehead. 241/300 Subjects were diagnosed with OSA. Of these patients, 199 could be analyzed for position-dependent OSA (AHIsupine > 2x AHI non-supine) based on head and trunk position sensors: 41.2% of the cases were not position dependent, 52.3% were supine position dependent based on the trunk sensor, 6.5% were supine position dependent based on the head sensor alone. In 46.2% of the trunk supine position-dependent group, head position was of considerable influence on AHI (AHI was >5 higher when the head was also in supine position compared to when the head was turned sideways).
Conclusions: The results of this study confirm our hypothesis that the occurrence of OSA may also be dependent on the position of the head. Therefore in patients with a suspicion of position-dependent OSA, sleep recording with dual position sensors placed on both trunk and head should be considered.