The predictive value of pulse oximetry to diagnose sleep apnoea
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluating the predictive value of pulse oximetry as a diagnostic screening tool for obstructive sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome (OSA) in children compared to gold standard cardiorespiratory studies and polysomnography.
IRAS ID
176831
Contact name
Catherine M Hill
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), a disorder of breathing during sleep characterized by upper airway obstruction, disturbs sleep and affects gas exchange. The prevalence of OSA is between 1 and 2% in typically developing children (1) and is higher in children with obesity and conditions such as Down syndrome(2). OSA causes problems in daytime attention, learning and behaviour and can cause hypertension and growth failure (3,4,5,6,7,8). There are effective treatments for OSA, so detection is important. Paediatric OSA often results in dips in oxyhaemoglobin saturation. This finding in a snoring child is highly suggestive of OSA. Therefore pulse oximetry has potential merit as a screening tool. This is important in the UK as oximetry is widely available and can be easily carried out at home. Furthermore, there is limited availability of the internationally recommended gold standard approach to OSA diagnosis in children, namely sleep laboratory multi-channel polysomnography (PSG) and cardiorespiratory polygraphy (14).
New generation oximeters with signal extraction technology allow reliable data acquisition in mobile young children. Furthermore, software allows signals to be analysed manually to extract data artefact providing far greater accuracy in recording. In this study we will determine how accurately such oximetry technology (Masimo Corp) predicts OSA compared to gold standard PSG and cardiorespiratory polygraphy. Children aged 6 months to 18 years who are listed for routine clinical sleep studies in Southampton Children’s Hospital will be recruited. Overnight cardiorespiratory polygraphy or PSG will be undertaken alongside pulse oximetry. Oximetry studies will be scored blinded to the findings of polygraphy. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves with be drawn for pulse oximetry parameters against OSA diagnosis. Sensitivity and specificity, positive predictive values; positive and negative likelihood ratios; and areas under the ROC curve will be calculated. Results will inform UK screening recommendations for children with suspected OSA.REC name
South Central - Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SC/0422
Date of REC Opinion
2 Sep 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion