Ladies, this one’s for you. Pregnancy can be rough. There’s morning sickness, weight gain, and the knowledge that life, as you know it, is about to change forever. But nowadays, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a new culprit for “high risk pregnancies.”
A new study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and published in Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine evaluated the effectiveness of Berlin and Stop-Bang questionnaires in detecting sleep apnea across trimesters of pregnancy. In case you’re wondering, the Berlin and Stop-Bang questionnaires are two, slightly different multiple-choice tests that screen for sleep apnea.
72 women from a high-risk pregnancy clinic participated in the study. Enrollment consisted of 23, 24, and 25 women during first, second, and third trimesters, respectively. Of the 72 women, 23 subjects had sleep apnea (31.9%). The women were recruited to complete sleep evaluations including Berlin and Stop-Bang Questionnaires. Then they were tested overnight using Watch-PAT200 to diagnose sleep apnea.
So how effective are questionnaires in predicting sleep apnea in pregnant women? It depends what trimester the woman is in. Results showed that the overall predictive value of questionnaires was fair. However, when broken down according to trimester, both questionnaires were far more effective at predicting sleep apnea in a woman’s second or third trimester than in her first.
Scientists found specific risk factors associated with OSA in each trimester using multivariate analyses. Pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) was important in predicting sleep apnea during the first trimester. Snoring often was a red flag during the second trimester, and pregnancy BMI and weight gain during the third trimester were significantly associated with OSA. As if that pregnancy weight wasn’t difficult enough!
So basically, here’s the scoop: Both questionnaires were helpful for determining OSA during a woman’s second and third trimester, but not as helpful during the first trimester. Researchers noted that both questionnaires’ predictive values increased particularly from the first to the second trimester, as well as to the third. They also commented, “obstructive sleep apnea during pregnancy seems to be a dynamic process with different predictors associated during each trimester.”
If you’re pregnant or think you might be pregnant AND at-risk for sleep apnea, don’t wait to get tested. Our home sleep apnea test allows you to get tested from the comfort of your own home! Nine months from now, your new little one will thank you.
Source: Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25406273
