Pamela Aselton
Background: Sleep disordered breathing occurs in over half of the estimated 5.1 million people in the United States diagnosed with heart failure.
Aim and Methods: The purpose of this integrative review is to find evidence for the routine use of a sleep apnea screening protocol in patients with heart failure.
Results: Several useful tools are described including the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, the STOP BANG questionnaire and the Berlin questionnaire. Using one of these tools along with an overnight pulse oximetry is a cost effective way to screen patients before the more costly sleep studies.
Conclusions: Evidence shows that treatment of sleep apnea in this population decreases not only morbidity and mortality rates, but the overall cost burden of the disease as well.
