DOES SOCIALLY DISTURBING SNORING AND OR EXCESSIVE DAYTIME SLEEPINESS WARRANT POLYSOMNOGRAPHY/

The relationship between sleep-related breathing disorders and the maj or complaints of patients referred for diagnostic polysomnography to t he University Hospital, Antwerp, were studied. Six hundred and forty-t wo patients (502 men, 140 women, aged 49.8 +/- 11.9) completed a stand ardized questionnaire and underwent single-night complete polysomnogra phy. Among 581 patients complaining of habitual snoring and/or excessi ve daytime sleepiness, 252 had non-apnoeic snoring and 170 had sleep a pnoea syndrome. In 144 patients with the isolated complaint of snoring , 18% had sleep apnoea syndrome. This percentage increased significant ly to 35% when snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness were both pres ent. The odds ratio for sleep apnoea syndrome in patients with snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness was 2.15 (95% CI, 1.48-3.12). The co mplaints of snoring and/or excessive daytime sleepiness are highly lik ely to be associated with sleep-related breathing disorders and warran t further diagnostic work-up, including polysomnographic evaluation.