Miss Emerita said
I'm especially concerned because as far as I know, the entire Kaiser health system uses WatchPAT as the test of choice.
Although Kaiser uses the WatchPat for the majority of diagnosing sleep apnea, I understand it will do an in-lab test if the results are negative but the symptoms still indicate an issue. And when the symptoms indicate other sleep disorders, they will do an in-lab study as well. For people who needed DOT testing, a chest strap was added to the test kit to measure respiratory effort (this was many years ago, I'm not sure they still do).
As the vast majority of people with sleep disordered breathing issues have obstructive sleep apnea, it makes sense to rule that in or out first, and I'm guessing the number of false negatives with this device is fairly low
when users are screened for symptoms and risk factors first. If the WatchPat isn't entirely accurate on severity, it only truly matters on the low end when making a decision to treat or not, whether a person has moderate or severe OSA they still need CPAP, and then the question becomes whether CPAP is adequately treating the OSA regardless of severity.
I have said this several times and will say it again. If Kaiser had not offered me the WatchPat home test, I would be yet undiagnosed and probably dead. I had absolutely NO intention of doing an in lab sleep test, that is very intrusive and uncomfortable for me, and I can't see that it would have yielded accurate results given that I would have been so stressed by the process that I doubt I would have slept. I most certainly have some PTSD from heart surgery when I was 8 and have a very low tolerance for medical procedures and tests. A simple EKG (much easier than the days of the little squeeze bulbs and ice cold metal plates straps) bothers me, being hooked up to all those wires and expected to sleep in a strange bed with people watching me was NOT going to happen.
One Kaiser clinic can process perhaps as many as 50 people a week for testing with the Watch Pat, which I would suspect would result in MORE people being diagnosed and treated rather than fewer when a typical sleep clinic might be able to process 2 - 4 people per night at a much higher cost per person--the devotion of an entire night to the process, usually on a weekday. As always, Kaiser plays a numbers game. If they capture the majority of people with OSA who need treatment, they consider that a win.
When most people complain about the WatchPat, they are trying to convince themselves that the results are falsely positive because of denial, not science. How many times have we seen anybody come here and complain that they were denied CPAP treatment because the WatchPat didn't indicate a treatable number of obstructions???
Certainly WatchPat won't find things like RERA's, restless leg syndrome, PLMD, and may not catch when an apnea is more complex than simple OSA. A good clinician should be able to recognize when an in-lab test is warranted, or lack of success with treatment certainly indicates further study.
I'm not a Kaiser cheerleader. There are many criticisms I could offer about their system. But I think using the WatchPat as a baseline screening for OSA makes a lot of sense. And I don't think it's inferior to an in lab study for the vast majority of people who need to be tested for OSA.
So RobbyM684, please let us know how the test came out for your wife. Do you agree with the diagnosis (or ruling it out) and severity from what you observe beside your wife every night?