STOP Bang Questionnaire: A Practical Approach to Screen for Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
There exists a high prevalence of OSA in the general population, a great proportion of which remains undiagnosed. The snoring, tiredness, observed apnea, high BP, BMI, age, neck circumference, and male gender (STOP Bang) questionnaire was specifically developed to meet the need for a reliable, concise, and easy to use screening tool. It consists of eight dichotomous (yes/no) items related to the clinical features of sleep apnea. The total score ranges from 0 to 8. Patients can be classified for OSA risk based on their respective scores. The sensitivity of STOP Bang score 3 to detect moderate to severe OSA (apnea hypopnea index [AHI] 15) and severe OSA (AHI 30) is 93% and 100% respectively. Corresponding negative predictive values are 90% and 100% As the STOP Bang score increases from 0 to 2 up to 7 to 8, the probability of moderate to severe OSA increases from 18% to 60% and the probability of severe OSA rises from 4% to 38% Patients with a STOP Bang score of 0 to 2 can be classified as low risk for moderate to severe OSA whereas those with a score of 5 to 8 can be classified as high risk for moderate to severe OSA. In patients whose STOP Bang scores are in the midrange (3 or 4) further criteria are required for classification. For example, a STOP Bang score of 2 plus a BMI 35 kg/m(2) would classify that patient as having a high risk for moderate to severe OSA. In this way, patients can be stratified for OSA risk according to their STOP Bang scores.
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