The Berlin Questionnaire is a more sensitive tool than the Epworth Sleepiness Scale for screening Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) remains a highly under diagnosed clinical entity since many clinicians use sleep questionnaires for diagnosis, instead of the gold standard, albeit expensive test, polysomnography. This study compared the efficacy of two such questionnaires in diagnosing OSAS. Material and methods: The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was compared with Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) in this study. Patients with sleep disordered breathing were asked to fill up both ESS and BQ. Subsequently they underwent Level 1 polysomnography. The Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) thus obtained was used to compare the ESS and BQ for their sensitivity in screening for OSA. Result: Out of a total of 55 patients, 34 true positives were detected by ESS and 46 by BQ (68% and 92% sensitivity respectively). Conclusion: It was found that BQ was a tool with greater sensitivity than ESS in screening for OSA in the Indian population