Promoting Early Identification and Timely Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Panelists discuss how obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) disrupts normal breathing during sleep through repeated upper airway collapse, leading to fragmented sleep patterns, daytime fatigue, and potential long-term health complications if left untreated.

Panelists discuss how untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) significantly increases patients’ risk of serious health complications, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, and cognitive impairment while exacerbating existing comorbidities.

Panelists discuss how health care providers can identify patients at risk for obstructive sleep apnea through screening tools, clinical history assessment, and recognition of key symptoms such as daytime sleepiness, loud snoring, and witnessed breathing pauses during sleep.

Panelists discuss how various obstacles impede obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis, including limited access to sleep studies, lack of patient awareness, high costs, long wait times for testing, and inconsistent screening practices among health care providers.

Panelists discuss how validated questionnaires, clinical assessment tools, and overnight monitoring devices can help identify patients at risk for obstructive sleep apnea, though polysomnography remains the gold standard for definitive diagnosis.