Aim:
The aim of this doctoral thesis was to translate and validate the STOP-BANG Questionnaire (SBQ) and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), assess the feasibility of screening for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and develop and validate a two-stage screening model for OSA in family medicine clinics.
Methods:
Translation of the SBQ and ESS was conducted following a standardized procedure, including back-translation and harmonization. Language validation was performed on a sample of healthy individuals. Correlation between SBQ, ESS, and OSA was assessed in both a sleep disorders laboratory and in family medicine clinics.
The assessment of OSA prevalence was conducted by reviewing the medical records of consecutive visitors to family medicine clinics, using data from the Outpatient Healthcare Activity Database (ZUBSTAT), as well as conducting type 3 polygraphy on randomly selected patients in family medicine clinics. The two-stage screening model for OSA in family medicine clinics, based on the SBQ questionnaire followed by automated interpretation of type 3 polygraphy, was evaluated in randomly selected patients.
Results:
Successful translation and linguistic validation of the SBQ and ESS were achieved. SBQ showed good correlation with the diagnosis of OSA in both the sleep disorders laboratory and the family medicine clinic, whereas ESS did not demonstrate significant correlations. The two-stage screening model for OSA exhibited higher sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value compared to SBQ.
Conclusions:
In this study, we translated the SBQ and ESS questionnaires into Slovene. SBQ was identified as a reliable clinical tool for assessing the risk level of OSA. We developed and validated a two-stage screening model for OSA in family medicine clinics, confirming its validity. Based on the acquired knowledge, we propose implementing the two-stage screening model for OSA in family medicine clinics as part of routine preventive health check-ups. This study has opened a broad field for systemic changes in the management of OSA and further research.
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