home diagnostic sleep test

Has anyone tried a home diagnostic sleep test rather than go to a sleep lab? What did you think of it, thanks,

test

I had a home diagnostic test (Itamar Watch Pat) and I'm a big fan. I never would have been comfortable in a sleep lab setting, and I don't think my test would have been as accurate in a strange environment. It makes a lot of sense to have a test in your own bed, and your normal sleeping conditions. Home titration makes a lot of sense too, as long as there is plenty of support and patient education along with it.

A home test may not be ideal if you have a complex type of sleep apnea like restless leg syndrome, PLMD, or a neurological syndrome. But for plain vanilla OSA and some straightforward centrals, it is perfectly fine.

I have only had testing in the lab and it may be necessary for titration. I would have rather had a home test as my best numbers have been in the lab (according to their reports compared with my machine lcd readings). A night in the sleep lab is as far from a typical night as can be. I think this would only apply if your doc thought you had straight forward OSA. Sorry not to be able to report personal experience.

I had a home sleep test and later a home titration. That is the first line of testing where I am. If anything odd shows up then they do in lab testing. Home testing is much cheaper and catches the majority run of the mill sleep apnea issues.

I had a home test (can't remember which one at the moment; it was a year ago) and it was fine. As others have said, it makes sense to me to sleep under normal conditions for you rather than the artificial setting of the sleep lab.

That being said, I'm sure there is additional information from a lab test that is not available from the home test. I did not have a follow-up titration, but the settings I was given seem to work just fine.

Debbie

jbernard wrote:Has anyone tried a home diagnostic sleep test rather than go to a sleep lab? What did you think of it, thanks,

I had a one night home test for OSA and a three night home titration on a Auto CPAP. Around 30 days later I had a one night O2 test. The sleep clinic/lab is part of a large HMO in Southern California and from what I have seen, mostly use home testing for their patients.

John

My wife, Apneawho, did a home sleep test and then went to the sleep lab for her titration. Things have worked out well for her.

Out of curiosity, did you hook yourself up or did someone come to your home and do it? How many leads/connections are there? It sounds pretty complicated for a DIY project! I'm sure I would have slept a lot better in my own bed!

Teknomom,

Not sure who you are asking your question to, but here is a link to the machine they used to diagnose my OSA:
http://www.healthcare.philips.com/us_en ... efault.wpd

At the sleep lab we went through the entire hooking up procedure twice and also had step by step directions to follow when we hooked ourselves up that night. The machine was then returned the next morning and the data gone over by the Dr's and RT's.

John

Strongly urge you to do a home study first. If the home study comes back positive you still don't have to go for a Sleep Lab. Ask your Dr. to write a 'script for an Auto machine, the ResMed S9 Autoset comes to mind: it is Data Capable so you can see your numbers too. This will do an auto titration while you sleep. Ideally you would use it for more than a week (some Drs. look at a month's data) to diagnose and prescribe the machine settings you need.
Personal story: I'm strongly in favor of home studies because my sleep lab experience was a horrible mess. Home study said I had apnea, sleep lab said I didn't. Second home study confirmed the first. Sleep Dr. wrote 'script for an auto machine and I did an auto-titration for a month. I liked the ResMed S9 Autoset and still run it on auto. It hums along at 9.6 cm and ramps up only when needed.
Wishing you all Success!
Cindy