Sleep Apnea Diagnosis

What constitutes an effective sleep apnea diagnosis? One of the most respected and accurate tools is the polysomnograph. This tool – which is generally administered in a sleep lab by technicians – monitors respiratory function as well as neural wave forms to determine not only whether a patient is or is not suffering from apnea but also when and how that apnea presents over a typical sleep cycle. The PSG test (as it’s known) can cost thousands of dollars as well as require one or more nights under observation at a lab.

Cheaper and far more comfortable methods of sleep apnea diagnosis do exist. Home tests – administered and monitored by patients themselves (or their spouses) – typically cost only a few hundred dollars. These sleep home tests search for signs of apnea by detecting irregularities in breathing patterns. There are a few downsides. Home tests which are geared to find apnea signatures may not pick up on other sleeping disorders. Also, these diagnostic tools are (at least according to some studies) less accurate and less conclusive than their lab-based counterparts.

So where should sufferers turn for an accurate sleep apnea diagnosis that won’t break the bank? The answer will likely be a highly personal one – consult your physician to determine the best and safest approach. Currently, there’s a debate raging in political circles as to whether Medicare should cover home sleep apnea diagnosis for seniors. Proponents argue that early home diagnosis can save both money and lives. Opponents counter that expanding Medicare’s purview to home apnea tests is too expensive and too fraught with the potential for misdiagnosis.