Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
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Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg · Apr 2013
Review Meta AnalysisDiagnostic value of the Friedman tongue position and Mallampati classification for obstructive sleep apnea: a meta-analysis.
To assess the association between the Mallampati classification and Friedman tongue position for obstructive sleep apnea severity as determined by apnea-hypopnea index and to determine which method is most closely correlated with prediction of obstructive sleep apnea severity. ⋯ The Mallampati classification and Friedman tongue position assessment techniques are significantly correlated with predicting obstructive sleep apnea severity. Publication bias does not significantly affect our results. The strength of this correlation is higher for Friedman tongue position, although 95% confidence intervals for the respective correlation coefficients overlap.