Capability of a neck worn device to measure sleep/wake, airway position, and differentiate benign snoring from obstructive sleep apnea

J Clin Monit Comput. 2015 Feb;29(1):53-64. doi: 10.1007/s10877-014-9569-3. Epub 2014 Mar 6.

Abstract

To evaluate the accuracy of a neck-worn device in measuring sleep/wake, detecting supine airway position, and using loud snoring to screen for obstructive sleep apnea. Study A included 20 subjects who wore the neck-device during polysomnography (PSG), with 31 records obtained from diagnostic and split-night studies. Study B included 24 community-based snorers studied in-home for up to three-nights with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity measured with a validated Level III recorder. The accuracy of neck actigraphy-based sleep/wake was measured by assessing sleep efficiency (SE). Differences in sleep position measured at the chest and neck during PSG were compared to video-editing. Loud snoring acquired with an acoustic microphone was compared to the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) by- and acrosspositions. Over-reported SE by neck actigraphy was inversely related to OSA severity. Measurement of neck and chest supine position were highly correlated with video-edits (r=0.93, 0.78). Chest was bias toward over-estimating supine time while the majority of neck-device supine position errors occurred during CPAP titrations. Snoring was highly correlated with the overall, supine, and non-supine PSG-AHI (r=0.79, 0.74, 0.83) and was both sensitive and specific in detecting overall, supine, and non-supine PSGAHI>10 (sensitivity=81, 88, 82%; specificity=87, 79, 100%). At home sleep testing-AHI>10, the sensitivity and specificity of loud snoring was superior when users were predominantly non-supine as compared to baseline (sensitivity=100, 92%; specificity=88, 77%). Neck actigraphy appears capable of estimating sleep/wake. The accuracy of supine airway detection with the neck-device warrants further investigation. Measurement of loud snoring appears to provide a screening tool for differentiating positional apneic and benign snorers.

MeSH terms

  • Acoustics
  • Actigraphy / methods
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Body Mass Index
  • Cohort Studies
  • Electrophysiology
  • Equipment Design*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neck / pathology
  • Polysomnography / instrumentation*
  • Polysomnography / methods
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Sleep
  • Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / diagnosis*
  • Snoring / diagnosis*
  • Young Adult