Development and validation of a Score for Preoperative Prediction of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (SPOSA) and its perioperative outcomes

BACKGROUND: Postoperative respiratory complications (PRCs) are associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and hospital costs. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), often undiagnosed in the surgical population, may be a contributing factor. Thus, we aimed to develop and validate a score for preoperative prediction of OSA (SPOSA) based on data available in electronic medical records preoperatively. METHODS: OSA was defined as the occurrence of an OSA diagnostic code preceded by a polysomnography procedure. A priori defined variables were analyzed by multivariable logistic regression analysis to develop our score. Score validity was assessed by investigating the score’s ability to predict non-invasive ventilation. We then assessed the effect of high OSA risk, as defined by SPOSA, on PRCs within seven postoperative days and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: A total of 108,781 surgical patients at Partners HealthCare hospitals (2007–2014) were studied. Predictors of OSA included BMI >25 kg*m(−2) and comorbidities, including pulmonary hypertension, hypertension, and diabetes. The score yielded an area under the curve of 0.82. Non-invasive ventilation was significantly associated with high OSA risk (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.22–1.69). Using a dichotomized endpoint, 26,968 (24.8%) patients were identified as high risk for OSA and 7.9% of these patients experienced PRCs. OSA risk was significantly associated with PRCs (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.19–1.43). CONCLUSION: SPOSA identifies patients at high risk for OSA using electronic medical record-derived data. High risk of OSA is associated with the occurrence of PRCs. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12871-017-0361-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.