HOME SLEEP APNEA TESTING
THE PROCESS
Home sleep apnea test requested or ordered
Appointment to pick up the test device
—– Instructions on how to wear the device
—– Instructions on how to operate the device
At home you put the device on and wear for a night of sleep
Appointment to return the device
Follow up appointment with your physician for results
Description
Home sleep apnea testing is an overnight recording that
you will carry out on your own. Home sleep apnea
testing became available in 2005. It has been widely used
in the field of sleep medicine since the government,
through Medicare, accepted it as a diagnostic test for
obstructive sleep apnea about six years later.. There are
multiple devices available. The FDA approves devices
that are used by physicians. Your sleep testing facility
will utilize one of these devices.
If your physician has ordered it for you, the day of your
study you will have an appointment to pick up the testing
unit. You will be shown the unit and how to wear it for
your test. They will help you fit any monitors that need
adjustments. The units are easy to use and quite
accurate. You will take the unit home to perform the test.
At your bedtime you will put on the testing apparatus
and start the test with the push of a single button. When
you get up for your day in the morning you will push the
button to terminate the study recording. You will pack
up the unit and return it to the Center where the
information recorded will be downloaded.
The home sleep tests are purely tests for obstructive
sleep apnea. They are exceptionally good at diagnosing
obstructive apnea in the vast majority of individuals.
People with milder forms of apnea, difficulty with
initiating and staying asleep, and people with positional
apnea, may have the condition missed on home sleep
apnea testing. When mild apnea is suspect, a sleep test
performed in a sleep center, a polysomnography, is the
medically preferred test. Unfortunately many insurance
providers require all patients who need testing for sleep
disorders to have a home sleep apnea test as the first
step in their testing evaluation with limited exceptions.
Question – Obstructive sleep apnea is treated for two reasons. Do you know what they are?
Updated June 2022