Screening of Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Review of Questionnaire-based Tools

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a significant problem resulting from the obstruction of the upper airway. It leads to cardiovascular disorders, cognitive impairment, epilepsy, fatigue, sleepiness, diabetes, and perioperative complications. It is important to identify and treat OSA before it leads to other comorbidities. Thus, reliable questionnaire-based methods have been developed for screening this disease. This review article elaborates the most common questionnaires used for the screening of OSA: The STOP questionnaire, STOP-Bang questionnaire, Berlin questionnaire, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Fatigue Severity Scale, and the 4-Variable Screening Tool. Of these questionnaire-based screening tools, it was found that the STOPBang questionnaire was the most sensitive screening tool for OSA. It is a quick and reliable method that can be used during routine practice to screen for OSA and to stratify patients into high-risk and low-risk groups before they can be subjected to further evaluation by polysomnography.