• David G Davila, Kathy C Richards, Buddy L Marshall, Patricia S O'Sullivan, Leah A Osbahr, Regina B Huddleston, and Jay C Jordan.
• Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock, Sleep Disorders Center, AR 72205-7299, USA. dgdavila@baptist-health.org
• Sleep. 2003 Feb 1; 26 (1): 91-5.

Study ObjectivesPulse oximetry (Sp02) is a key parameter monitored during polysomnographic studies, and different acquisition settings can be employed to obtain this data. The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of different settings would significantly influence scoring of respiratory disturbance events (RDE).DesignProspective studySettingSleep Disorders Center - communityPatients30 patients had three identical oximeters simultaneously attached to the digits during polysomnography, each placed in a different recording setting: 3, 6 and 12 seconds.InterventionsNone.MeasurementsRDEs were identified by changes in snoring and flow then sub-categorized as RDE0, RDE1-2 and/or RDE3 if less than 1%, greater than 1 but less than 3%, and 3% or greater oxyhemoglobin desaturation occurred. Each event was given three labels according to the level of desaturation seen on each oximetry tracing.ResultsSignificant differences in the mean frequency of RDE types at each recording setting were noted (p < .001). A survey of sleep practitioners revealed changes in clinical behavior when presented examples of such differences.ConclusionThese data confirm the impact of different oximetric recording settings on the profile of RDEs and the importance of reporting such acquisition settings in studies of sleep disordered breathing.

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