The Weighted Combination of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and the STOP-Bang Questionnaire Improved the Predictive Value of for OSAHS in Hypertensive Patients

PURPOSE: Hypertension interrelated with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS), worsening morbidity and mortality. It is urgent to screening OSAHS from hypertensive patients. An ideal effective questionnaire screening approach for OSAHS is lacking. In this study, we aimed to explore a new OSAHS screening method via weighted combining the current used Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) and STOP-Bang questionnaire (SBQ) upon calculation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Three hundred and sixteen hypertensive patients with suspicion of the OSAHS were enrolled and randomized in the study into ESS, SBQ and portable respiratory polysomnography (RP) tests. The predictive value of ESS, SBQ and weighted combination were evaluated by calculating the area under curve (AUC), sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratio. RESULTS: Both the two scales alone and weighted combination were closely related with apnea hypopnea index (AHI), minimum oxygen saturation and average oxygen saturation at night (P < 0.05). The AUC, sensitivity and specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of ESS in predicting OSAHS were 79.0%, 74.8%, 75.6%, 80.1% and 57.5%, respectively. For SBQ, they were 73.6%, 67.0%, 68.6%, 65.1% and 75.2%, respectively. In contrast, the AUC, sensitivity, and specificity of the combined approach were 82.5%, 73.9% and 82.6%. CONCLUSION: The weighted combination of ESS and SBQ could improve the diagnostic ability of OSAHS in patients with hypertension, not only in the accuracy and sensitivity, but also for its easy procedure and accessibility and in hospital. Therefore, the weighted combination approach of ESS and SBQ is promising for OSAHS screening.