Page 56 - Development of Questionnaires for Quantitative Medical Research
P. 56
diagnosis can often be confirmed by using a
specialized machine. For example, the gold
standard for diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea
(OSA) is the attended overnight level I
polysomnogram (PSG). It requires the patient to be
admitted overnight at a medical facility which has
a sleep study centre. Polysomnography is used to
measure the apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) and
various other parameters; and so the severity of
OSA will be measured with the AHI, which is the
number of apnea and hypopnea events per hour of
sleep. AHI reading exceeding 5 indicates that a
patient has OSA (Young et al., 2002).
