At Home Sleep Tests

Anyone know exactly what kind (if there is more than one) at home sleep tests are available and what they detect.

I know there is the wrist band. My Spine specialist uses something like this, but it just records vitals. Don't seem how this could give much of a sleep test.

Wondering if there is one that will show the sleep stages.

Well, after two horrible sleep studies with not much readings at all cause I couldnt sleep due to one time just recovering from food poisoning which caused my anxiety to be horrible and the second one just I couldnt sleep and my anxiety acted up again The doc felt bad for me and was liek I am NOT putting you through that again so they sent me home with an auto CPAP for three nights and used that plus with the little results they did get with the sleep study...

There are many different products for At Home Sleep Studies. They keep coming out with more and more - finally. The use of an Auto recording CPAP will supply you with some information but unfortunately leaves out some of the really important stuff such as, O2 levels, differentiating between obstructive and central apneas etc. I know around here (the mountains of Tennessee), the Visiting Nurses will handle orders for at home sleep studies. I know for sure that they measure O2, pulse rate, snore, brain wave activity, lung function and leg movement. They actually come to your home in the evening and hook you up and you just do 1 plugin when you go to bed. I cannot for the life of me remember which one they use, however, if you just google At Home Sleep Study, you will find vast quantities of information. Almost any company that provides oximeters also make Home Sleep Study products. For the average person, they would probably be fine - of course Sleep Doctors will not agree$$$$$$$$ If you have a lot of underlying medical problems or if central apneas are suspected, I would not suggest it either. Having struggled in the sleep lab myself twice - 13 minutes of sleep on the first go around and slightly longer on the second - I can understand where you are coming from. I do know that the equipment is returned to a lab who downloads the results and reports them to your doctor. Compared to a sleep lab, it is like the WalMart version of a sleep study!!!!! The only problem is they must be done with a physicians order, so you have to have a GP who is willing. Many of them are extremely reluctant to get involved. I will try to find out the name of the company they use on Monday - trust me, cannot find anyone on the weekend!!

I did do an at home sleep study..primarily because I have only a high deductable major medical insurance policy. My ENT was aware of this study and highly recommended it. He felt that it gave all the info that was needed. The company is called SNAP and can be found on the internet.

The info is sent back to the company for analysis and then to the Dr. It seemed to give him what he needed including the O level.

Hope this helps.

My health care provider uses at home sleep studies almost exclusively to diagnose SA (as opposed to sleep labs). Along with a recommendation from your general practitioner and info collected on a questionaire you fill out for them.

The sleep study consists of a small box you strap to the center of your chest, along with straps around your body at your chest and one at your abdomen. It also includes an oximeter and a nasal sensor to detect air flows and snores. The data collected is extensive including AHI vs sleep position (left side, right side, back) and night long plots of oxigenation, breathing, apnea, hypopnea, centrals, heart rate, etc etc, all synched in time (just a small sampling of all the data it collects).

If you are diagnosed with SA, they then loan you an APAP for a week, collecting data in your natural sleep environment to determine your pressure setting. My self I didn't deal with the APAP very well, so ended up with additional meetings with 2 sleep docs and an additional week long loaner.

In the end their recommendation was for a CPAP with a pressure of 9cm, but they were fine with whatever type of machine i wanted to get. After doing more extensive testing with my own APAP, and optimizing pressure and settings, I also ended up finding my optimum pressure is 9cm fixed. Any variation from that up or down and I end up with a higher AHI.

Bottom line, it works. The home test was thorough and accurate. I also think the benefit of doing the test in your own more comfortable sleep environment is a big benefit.


ron

You might want to read about this as well

http://www.itamar-medical.com/content.asp?id=31

O.

Unfortunately (imho) Medicare turned down the application of Dr. Terence M. Davidson, MD, of the University of California San Diego, School of Medicine, requesting that Medicare reimbursements be extended to cover "at home sleep studies."

Nonetheless, equipment and services to offer at home testing continues to grow. A good thing, imho.

It's interesting to see who weighed in on each side during the long drawn out rounds of public comments, panel discussions, and meetings while Medicare listened to the pros and cons.

Ultimately Medicare said "no" to at-home testing for OSA. Very short-sighted, I think. The link below will take you to the Medicare site about it.

Medicare Coverage Database