
09 Aug How Sleep Apnea is Diagnosed

Sleep Apnea
Curious about the process of diagnosing sleep apnea? Here’s what you should know.
Testing for Diagnosis
For an accurate diagnosis, Dr. Hartsfield may use the results from one or both of these tests performed by a board certified sleep physician:
Home Sleep Testing – Also known as Unattended Sleep Study, this test is done from the comfort of your home, testing your sleep patterns, heart rate, blood oxygen level.
Nocturnal Polysomnography – During this test, equipment will be hooked up to you as you sleep, monitoring brain activity, breathing patterns, heart and lung activity, bodily movements, and blood oxygen levels.
Results
Depending on the results of your home test, your sleep physician and Dr. Hartsfield may be able to begin treatment right away. However, not all home sleep tests are able to detect sleep cycle irregularities. If your results came back unclear, your sleep physician may schedule a polysomnography test just to be sure.
What’s Next?
Once you have been diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), you will have a consultation on all the options to treat OSA. Some of those options may include, but are not limited to, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), mandibular advancement device, or surgery.