Is the Berlin questionnaire an appropriate diagnostic tool for sleep medicine in pneumological rehabilitation?
GROUND: The Berlin Questionnaire is an explorative tool of 13 questions designed to identify patients with obstructive sleep apnea. The questions are targeted toward key symptoms of snoring, apneas, daytime sleepiness, hypertension and overweight. METHODS: 153 patients undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation were screened for obstructive sleep apnea via i) ApneaLink (ResMed, Munich) and ii) the Berlin Questionnaire. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was administered to grade daytime sleepiness. Results of ApneaLink screening and questionnaires were prospectively compared. The Respiratory Disturbance Index (RDI) was used to compute predictive performance of the Berlin Questionnaire for obstructive sleep apnea. Results were also compared to previously published data from a primary care patient cohort. RESULTS: At a cut-off RDI=10/h, the Berlin Questionnaire had a sensitivity of 62.5 %, a specificity of 53.8 %, a positive predictive value of 38.4 %, a negative predictive value of 74.2 %, a p
