A proposition of hybrid healthcare pathway to screen and diagnose obstructive sleep apnea: exploratory analysis of retrospective observational data.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to evaluate an integrated hybrid healthcare pathway that combines a digital screening questionnaire, teleconsultations (TC) with sleep physicians and home sleep apnea testing (HSAT), for the screening and diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in France.

METHODS

This exploratory retrospective study was performed on data from the SleepDoctor platform collected between July 2022 to April 2024. The OSA screening pathway included a digital Berlin Questionnaire (BQ), followed by an offer of teleconsultation for patients at risk of OSA with a registered nurse, a sleep physician and a home sleep apnea test (HSAT) when needed. Demographic data and risk scores were compared between high and low-risk subjects, with or without teleconsultation and with or without HSAT.

RESULTS

Of 45,099 patients included (63.3% women, mean age = 43.6 ± 13.5 years and mean BMI = 28.1 ± 65 kg/m), 26,440 (58.6%) were at high risk of OSA (60.4% female, mean age = 45.1 ± 12.5 years and mean BMI = 30.3 ± 6.7 kg/m). Of these, 944 booked a TC with a sleep physician among whom 579 had a HSAT. Although more women were at high risk of OSA, they were less likely to have booked a TC (42.5%) and have had a HSAT (41.6%) than men (p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

These findings highlight the need for further optimization of the proposed hybrid pathway, particularly in engaging at-risk individuals to complete the full screening and diagnosis process.