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Home studies

Patients suspected of having obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) will have to have a sleep study performed to properly diagnose the disorder. There are two possible tests for determining a diagnosis: a polysomnogram (PSG) in hospital or a polysomnogram at home.

Benefits of home polysomnograms

  1. Cost convenience
Many patients do not have medical aid in South Africa or may have medical aids that do not cover polysomnogram tests. The cost of a polysomnogram can become expensive if the patient has to pay for hospitalization and the polysomnogram out of pocket.
  1. Comfort and accessibility
Being able to have a sleep test in the comfort of one’s own home makes it more convenient for patients who either don’t like the idea of staying overnight in a hospital, live in a remote location or have other medical problems that could prevent them from sleeping in a lab or hospital.
  1. Scheduling
It’s a lot easier to have a technologist show up at your house to do the polysomnogram in the comfort of your own home than it is to organising an admission to a lab or hospital.
  1. Good tool
Patients still gets the benefit of a full polysomnogram in the comfort of their own home. With technology that advances daily, we are now able to do not only sleep apnea screenings but full polysomnograms. What are the challenges of home polysomnograms? While there are many benefits to using HSTs to diagnose sleep apnea rather than going through the traditional polysomnogram test, there are some challenges that patients and medical professionals should be aware of.
  1. Home polysomnograms are not ideal for patients with other medical problems.
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart failure (CHF), neuromuscular diseases, and others are not good candidates for home polysomnograms.
  1. Medical aids do not cover home polysomnograms.
Most of the medical aids in South Africa do not cover home polysomnogram testing and in the future even the medical aids that did cover polysomnograms at home will discontinue to do so.
  1. Technical failure
Technical failures occur in as many as 20% of home-sleep studies and are probably the biggest disadvantage of home polysomnograms. In these instances, a repeat study is necessary.

In-hospital studies

Benefits of in-hospital polysomnograms

  1. Cost convenience

Many patients do have medical aids that only cover polysomnogram tests in-hospital and not at home. For these group of patients, it is more cost effective to have a polysomnogram in-hospital, rather than at home. The medical aid usually pays for the test in full and the patient does not have any co-payments.

  1. Monitoring by nurses

The patient will be monitored by a nurse as it is custom in hospital. There will be less room for technical errors as the nurse will be able to call us if a technical error has occurred.

  1. Patients with other medical problems

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart failure (CHF), neuromuscular diseases, and others are better candidates for in-hospital polysomnogram testing, because of medical staff being available immediately.

What are the challenges of in-hospital polysomnograms?

  1. Inconvenience

Patients won’t fall asleep as easily or sleep as well at the hospital as they do at home, this usually doesn’t affect the test results. A full night’s sleep isn’t required to obtain accurate polysomnography results. Inconvenience is usually the biggest and only challenge the patient face.

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