Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33356814›Full record

ArticleJournal of primary care & community health

Assessment of Neck Grasp as a Screening Tool for Identifying Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Oscar H Del Brutto, Robertino M Mera, Bettsy Y Recalde, Pablo R Castillo

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of primary care & community health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 42% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. A systematic review of obstructive sleep apnea in Indigenous peoples worldwide.Sleep advances : a journal of the Sleep Research Society · 2026
    Review
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Oscar H Del BruttoUniversidad Espíritu Santo-Ecuador, Samborondón, Ecuador.ORCID 0000-0003-1917-8805
Robertino M MeraGilead Sciences, Inc., Foster City, CA, USA.
Bettsy Y RecaldeThe Atahualpa Project, Atahualpa, Ecuador.
Pablo R CastilloMayo Clinic College of Medicine, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
Gilead Sciences (United States) · USJacksonville College · USUniversidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo · EC

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInability to encircle the neck by hands (neck grasp) has been proposed as an indicator of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) that would be useful for recognition of candidates for polysomnography (PSG). We assessed the value of neck grasp for predicting OSA in community-dwelling older adults of Amerindian ancestry.

methodsNeck grasp was evaluated in individuals aged ≥60 years undergoing PSG. The association between neck grasp and OSA was assessed by logistic regression models adjusted for relevant covariates. Mediation analysis was used to establish the proportion of the effect of the association between neck grasp and OSA, which is mediated by the neck circumference (a well-known OSA biomarker). Receiver operator characteristics curve analysis was used to estimate diagnostic accuracy of neck grasp for predicting OSA.

resultsOf 201 individuals undergoing PSG, 167 (83%) had the neck grasp test. The remaining 34 could not perform the test because of different factors. Neck grasp was positive in 127 (76%) cases, and 114 (68%) individuals had OSA (apnea-hypopnea index ≥5). Multivariate logistic regression models disclosed a significant association between neck grasp and OSA. The neck circumference was the single covariate remaining independently significant in these models. Neck grasp was not efficient at predicting OSA (sensitivity: 83.3%, specificity: 39.6%, positive predictive value: 0.75 and negative predictive value: 0.53). The area under the curve disclosed only a moderate predictive capability (61.5%) of neck grasp.

conclusionResults do not support the use of neck grasp as an independent predictor of OSA in the study population.

Indexed as

Independent LivingSleep Apnea, ObstructiveAgedFemaleHand StrengthHumansMalePolysomnographyPredictive Value of TestsAmerindiansAtahualpaneck circumferenceneck graspobstructive sleep apneapolysomnography

Identifiers

PMID33356814
PMCPMC7768834
OpenAlexW3114921937

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.