engleski

Excluding item T (tired) from STOP-Bang questionnaire in different nations: the role of age and sex

Objectives/Introduction Our group previously reported that excluding item assessing tiredness (T) might improve the overall predictive value of STOP-Bang in one population. The current research is aimed to investigate the role of the aforementioned item T of the STOP-Bang questionnaire among populations in different European geographic regions, while considering the possible moderating role of age and gender. Methods A study has been conducted in 3 European Sleep medicine centers - in Split, Croatia ; Thessaloniki, Greece ; and Izmir, Turkey. A total of 9154 respondents were included, of whom 2364 in Greece, 3638 in Turkey and 3152 in Croatia. Among them, 6345 respondents (69.4%) were men. 1351 respondents were younger than 40 years, with 6684 respondents aged 40 to 69 years, and 1014 respondents were older than 70 years of age. All patients in Greece were assessed with the use of polygraphy, all patients in Turkey were assessed with full-night polysomnography, and Croatian patients were assessed with polysomnography (n=1043) or polygraphy (n=2109). Results Specifically, among Greek patients, the exclusion of item T resulted in a decrease of STOP-Bang sensitivity from 97.6% to 94.2%, and an increase in specificity from 20.6% to 34.7%. Among patients in Turkey, the exclusion of the item T resulted in decreased sensitivity from 98.2% to 93.4%, while increasing specificity from 12.9% to 32.3%. In Croatian respondents, the exclusion of item T resulted in decreased sensitivity from 92.4% to 86.7% and increased specificity from 46.6% to 63.7%. Change in sensitivity and specificity was recognized in respondents below 40 years of age, 40 to 69 years of age and in groups of respondents older than 70 years. In all three investigated populations, a larger decrease in the sensitivity of the STOP-Bang questionnaire was recognized among female respondents when item T was excluded from the final sum, whereas the specificity increased. Conclusions The exclusion of item T in the final sum of the STOP-Bang questionnaire decreased the sensitivity of questionnaire in the recognition of OSA in all three investigated populations, but enabled an overall larger increase in the specificity. The change in sensitivity was more pronounced in female respondents.

OSA ; sleep ; STOP

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