Study: Hospitals can help diagnose sleep apnea
By HME News Staff
Updated Wed January 3, 2018
SAN DIEGO - A ResMed-funded study makes the case for hospitals screening patients for sleep apnea before they're discharged to improve their chances of long-term survival. As part of the study, published in the American Journal of Medicine, more than 5,000 hospitalized patients were screened for sleep apnea and 18.7% were estimated to have the condition. Those who tested positive were placed on CPAP therapy post-discharge, and those who were adherent in the first three months improved their chance of survival over the next 20 months compared with those who were not adherent. “We have a profound opportunity to identify and help tens of thousands of hospitalized patients who don't know they have a dangerous but treatable sleep condition,” said Sunil Sharma, the study's principal investigator. “These results show just how important a hospital can be in addressing these issues.”
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