Sleep study Test for sleep apnoea (OSA)
An overnight recording of your breathing, oxygen and heart rate while you sleep.
- Reviewed by a cardiologist
In obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), the airway closes again and again during sleep, so breathing stops for a few seconds and oxygen levels drop. It strains the heart and is linked to high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat and heart failure. A sleep study records your breathing, oxygen level and heart rate overnight to find out whether you have it, and how severe it is.
- How many times an hour breathing stops or becomes shallow (the apnoea-hypopnoea index)
- How low your oxygen level falls during the night
- Snoring, sleep position and heart rate through the night
- Whether sleep apnoea is mild, moderate or severe
- Loud snoring, or someone has noticed pauses in your breathing
- Feeling sleepy or unrefreshed during the day, or waking with a headache
- High blood pressure that is hard to control
- Atrial fibrillation or other rhythm problems
- Heart failure, diabetes or excess weight
- Follow your usual evening routine and bedtime
- Avoid alcohol and sleeping tablets that night unless your doctor says otherwise
- Remove nail polish from one finger so the oxygen sensor reads well
- Bring a list of your medicines
- The team shows you how to wear the small recorder, a soft nasal tube, a chest belt and a finger sensor
- You sleep at home in your own bed with the device on
- Fill in the short sleep diary in the morning
- Return the device the next day for analysis
The recording is analysed and the cardiologist explains the result. If you have sleep apnoea, treatment options such as CPAP, weight loss and position changes are discussed.
Questions
Do I have to stay overnight at the clinic?
No. This is a home sleep study: you wear the device in your own bed and return it the next day.
Why does a heart doctor test for sleep apnoea?
Untreated sleep apnoea raises blood pressure and is linked to atrial fibrillation, heart failure and stroke. Treating it helps the heart.
Will I be able to sleep with the device on?
Most people sleep reasonably well. The study needs only a few hours of sleep to give a result.
Where is the sleep study available?
At both our clinics: Karkardooma in East Delhi, and Medicalinic in Maharani Bagh, South Delhi.
Other tests
All tests
ECGElectrocardiogram
2D EchoEchocardiography with Doppler
TMTTreadmill stress test
Stress EchoStress echocardiography
Ambulatory BP24-hour BP monitoring (ABPM)
24-hour HolterHeart rhythm recording
Blood testsPathology- ELRExtended heart rhythm monitoring
- CT Calcium ScoreCoronary artery calcium (CAC) scan
- CT Coronary AngiographyNon-invasive scan of the heart arteries