A WVU sleep physician recommends clinicians determine and display hospitalized sufferers who’re at-risk of sleep issues, particularly rural sufferers who lack healthcare entry.
RT’s Three Key Takeaways:
- Excessive Charges of Undiagnosed Sleep Apnea: Regardless of its sturdy hyperlinks to heart problems, 50–77% of hospitalized sufferers with sleep apnea stay undiagnosed, in line with WVU sleep knowledgeable Dr. Sunil Sharma.
- In-Hospital Screening Alternative: Hospitalization affords a essential probability to determine and deal with sleep apnea, particularly in high-risk sufferers with circumstances like coronary heart failure, stroke, or weight problems, and in populations with restricted entry to outpatient care.
- Improved Outcomes with Early Detection: Screening and initiating PAP remedy throughout hospitalization can result in higher survival, stroke restoration, cardiovascular well being, and decrease readmission charges, whereas lowering total healthcare prices.
Regardless of rising proof that sleep apnea contributes to heart problems and may even make it worse, about 50% to 77% of hospitalized sufferers stay undiagnosed, in line with a West Virginia College knowledgeable on sleep issues.
Working with colleagues within the American Academy of Sleep Drugs, Dr. Sunil Sharma, N. Leroy Lapp Professor and chief of the Division of Pulmonary Crucial Care and Sleep Drugs within the WVU Faculty of Drugs, developed pointers that may cut back deaths and enhance high quality of life for these with sleep apnea. He’ll current these pointers in his function as chair of the 2026 symposium of the American Faculty of Chest Physicians.
“There are two high-risk teams that warrant screening and analysis for sleep apnea throughout hospitalization,” mentioned Dr. Sunil Sharma, N. Leroy Lapp Professor and chief of the Division of Pulmonary Crucial Care and Sleep Drugs, WVU Faculty of Drugs. “The primary is sufferers with comorbidities strongly related to sleep-disordered respiratory, equivalent to coronary heart failure, atrial fibrillation, persistent obstructive pulmonary illness, stroke and pulmonary hypertension.
“The second is sufferers who display optimistic for traditional indicators and signs of disordered sleep — weight problems, loud night breathing, hypertension, extreme daytime sleepiness and fatigue,” he added.
The follow could assist cut back healthcare disparities. Based on Sunil, sufferers in rural Appalachia usually face important boundaries to accessing care, with hospitalization serving as their first and generally solely level of contact with the medical system. He says its the perfect time to display for sleep issues.
“Figuring out sleep-disordered respiratory, offering training and initiating therapy throughout hospitalization is an opportunity to supply remedy they’d not in any other case obtain,” Sunil says.
He recommends clinicians assess at-risk sufferers utilizing a validated sleep apnea questionnaire, which might probably be adopted by a complete evaluation and goal screening by the hospital sleep drugs service, and should embrace in a single day high-resolution pulse oximetry or a Sort 3 residence sleep apnea testing.
“Randomized trials present improved survival in sufferers who’re recognized throughout hospitalization and begin optimistic airway stress remedy, or PAP remedy. Different optimistic affected person outcomes from the screenings embrace higher stroke restoration, lowered cardiovascular issues, fewer hospital readmissions and important enchancment in extreme daytime sleepiness — even decreased value of take care of the healthcare system.”
Supply: WVU/WVU Faculty of Drugs
