Pulse Oximetry Monitor Feasible for Early Screening of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)

Purpose: We postulate that using a simple pulse oximetry monitor (POM) to detect the severity of OSA will help clinical staff confirm the need for early treatment. Hence, we compared the POM-derived oxygen desaturation index (ODI) (events/h) with the polysomnography (PSG)-derived apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) (events/h). Our study is intended to validate the SpO₂ measurements and related ODI_4% and ODI_3% (events/h) calculations from POM associated with AHI and ODI from PSG based on 2007 and 2012 criteria. Methods: All 73 participants (mean age: 51.04 ± 13.14 years old) underwent an overnight PSG test and wore wristwatch POMs (PULSOX 300i) to automatically collect POM oxygen saturation (SpO₂) data. Pearson correlation and the Bland and Altman method were used to verify the correlation between POM and PSG. Results: We found that the POM SpO₂ and the PSG₂₀₀₇ and PSG₂₀₁₂ scores were significantly highly correlated (total record time [TRT] and lowest SpO₂, R² = 0.815 and 0.817; ODI_4%, R² = 0.912 and 0.863 and ODI_3%, R² = 0.930 and 0.914). AHI was significantly correlated with ODI_4% and ODI_3%, but ODI_3% was nonsignificantly higher (ODI_4%, r = 0.955–0.929; ODI_3%, r = 0.965–0.956). Both the ODI_3% and the ODI_4% were highly diagnostically sensitive and specific. The ODI_3% score with the AHI 15 events/h cutoff was nonsignificantly higher (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.99, AHI 15 events/h; AUC = 0.95, AHI 5 events/h). Conclusion: We conclude that the ODI_3% score is a feasible early screening alternative for patients with moderate-to-severe OSA.