Definition - What does diagnostic sleep study mean?
A diagnostic sleep study is an observation of a person during sleep where multiple data points are collected in order to make a diagnosis of any sleep disorders. During the study, breathing rates and patterns, any movements (restlessness), waking periods, snoring, brain activity, oxygen levels, and other data points are monitored through a set amount of time at night in order to diagnose any sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, or certain other conditions that may reveal symptoms during sleep cycles. A diagnostic sleep study is also called a polysomnography (PSG) study.
SureHire explains diagnostic sleep study
Sleep studies are often used to diagnose sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a serious set of conditions because it severely disrupts sleep and is the leading cause of excessive daytime sleepiness. Sleep apnea that is untreated can increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity, diabetes, cause irregular heartbeat, and increase the chance of having work-related or driving accidents.
There are various types of diagnostic sleep studies depending on the condition a physician suspects the patient is suffering from. All night studies, maintenance wakefullness testing, multiple sleep latency testing, split studies, CPAP tritation, and epilepsy monitoring are all types of diagnostic sleep studies. Studies use sensors attached to various parts of the body and visual monitoring by nurses to collect data for a doctor to review before making a diagnosis of a sleep related condition.
