Apnoea and hypopnoea scoring for people with spinal cord injury: new thresholds for sleep disordered breathing diagnosis and severity classification

Abstract

Study design: Descriptive study. Objectives: To determine the effect of respiratory event rule-set changes on the apnoea hypopnoea index, and diagnostic and severity thresholds in people with acute and chronic spinal cord injury. Setting: Eleven acute spinal cord injury inpatient hospitals across Australia, New Zealand, Canada and England; community dwelling chronic spinal cord injury patients in their own homes. Methods: Polysomnography of people with acute (n = 24) and chronic (n = 78) tetraplegia were reanalysed from 1999 American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) respiratory scoring, to 2007 AASM ‘alternative’ and 2012 AASM respectively. Equivalent cut points for published 1999 AASM sleep..