Obstructive sleep apnea is a common diagnosis in patients admitted at the memory clinic: Please screen for it!

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects a large portion of middle-aged and older adults. It has been linked to increased risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. OSA can impair cognitive performance and patients with cognitive complaints can frequently present with this sleep disorder. Although instruments able for correctly screening patients with cognitive impairment and OSA exist, there is no evidence about utility and feasibility of their use in the memory clinics. The study by Lam et al. showed that, in case of impossibility of performing polysomnography–that is the gold standard for OSA diagnosis, pulse oximetry can represent a good instrument for screening patients with cognitive impairment for OSA, and they do not advice for using sleep interview or STOP-Bang questionnaire for screening this sleep disorder.