Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34269259›Full record

ArticleAnnals of cardiac anaesthesia

Preoperative screening for obstructive sleep apnea in cardiovascular patients - How useful is STOP-BANG questionnaire in the Indian context?

Sapna Erat Sreedharan, Nandini Mitta, K P Unnikrishnan, Rejith Paul, Vivek Pillai

Open access · diamondAbstract read
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Article in Annals of cardiac anaesthesia. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 54% 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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. STOPBANG vs STOPBWANG.Lung India : official organ of Indian Chest Society · 2026
    Article
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

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sapna Erat SreedharanDepartment of Neurology, Comprehensive Centre for Sleep Disorders, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
Nandini MittaDepartment of Neurology, Comprehensive Centre for Sleep Disorders, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
K P UnnikrishnanDepartment of Anaesthesiology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
Rejith PaulDepartment of Neurology, Comprehensive Centre for Sleep Disorders, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
Vivek PillaiDepartment of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology · IN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is reported in a high proportion of cardiac surgical patients, up to 73%. STOP-BANG is a validated questionnaire for screening of outpatients for OSA with high sensitivity. There is sparse literature from India regarding the prevalence of OSA in preoperative cardiovascular patients and the utility of screening tools. Aims: We sought to study the utility of the STOP-BANG questionnaire as a screening tool for OSA in cardiovascular patients validating it with ambulatory level 3 polysomnography. Materials and Methods: It was a prospective study where consecutive patients getting admitted for coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) from August 2017-February 2019 were recruited. All the patients were screened with the STOP-BANG questionnaire. 53 patients underwent overnight level 3 polysomnography using Apnea-Link. Correlations were made between clinical symptoms, STOP-BANG score, and OSA severity, measured using Apnea hypopnea index (AHI). Results: We had 120 patients(103 males) with a mean age 60 years. Snoring was the most common sleep complaint. Our cohort had a high prevalence of vascular risk factors (DM 72.3%, hypertension 59.2%, dyslipidemia 60%) and 11.7% were obese (BMI >30). The median STOP-BANG score was 3 (IQR 2) with 83 having scores ≥3. Median AHI was 5.6 with AHI ≥5 in 28 patients and AHI 15 or above in 14 patients. Among the clinical parameters, arousals with respiratory difficulty at night, higher neck circumference, and tonsillar hypertrophy showed a significant association with PSG-proven OSA.STOP-BANG scores 3 or above had a sensitivity of 75% in predicting OSA. Conclusions: Our study shows that in cardiovascular patients less symptomatic for sleep complaints, the STOP-BANG questionnaire is a useful screening tool for OSA in outpatient settings. Among clinical parameters, airway narrowing and neck circumference can predict OSA.

Indexed as

Sleep Apnea, ObstructiveHumansMaleMiddle AgedPolysomnographyProspective StudiesSnoringSurveys and QuestionnairesAmbulatory polysomnographycardiovascular patientsobstructive sleep apneascreening toolSTOP-BANG questionnaire

Identifiers

PMID34269259
PMCPMC8404608
OpenAlexW3179328484

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
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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.