Sleep study question

[Jeff8356]

Asking for my wife....

She is scheduled to have a sleep study done.  The first part is at home using a Sleep Profiler for 2 nights.  It wraps around your head and has 3 EEG sensors that get stuck to your forehead.

The second part is an overnight PSG (in-lab).  

Does the Sleep Profiler give any different data than the full PSG?  Almost seems a little redundant.....

[Gideon]

The home study may or may not give as much detail as the lab sleep test. either way it should indicate sleep apnea, or not. The in lab test is likely a titration test.

[Crimson Nape]

An in-home study is much less expensive  compared to the lab test.  For this reason, a lot of the insurance companies are requiring an in-home test to justify the expense of the in-lab study.  Like most things, there are always pros and cons. An in-home study produces less information than the in-lab study but the patient is in their own bed and surroundings thus making it a less stressful.  The in-lab study has a multitude more sensors on the patient  as well as, patient monitoring video.  The amount of data and visual observations provide an enormous amount of information.  The amount of sensors they used on me would make a current V8 engine envious.   The downside is you're in a strange environment for one night. . . being watched.  Being a one night snapshot could be like the pain you have that disappears when you get to the doctor.   The upside is the medical team has the in-home data to fall back on.

I hope I've touched on some of your concerns.  I wish your wife the best in her trek to better sleep.  Please keep us posted.

[Jeff8356]

Bonjour and Crimson Nape, thank you!
I was looking a little deeper into the Sleep Profiler. Apparently there are 2 models. One is a basic EEG type (similar to the Dreem/Zeo device). The other is an actual PSG device and is FDA approved for in home sleep studies. Unfortunately our Dr office is not being up front about which device it is, or what they bill it as. Will see if I can pry more info out of them....

Our insurance only started covering Unattended PSG's (in home) this year so it's a little new to me. It just seemed a little odd that they scheduled her for both in-home and in-lab. I would have thought that they would want to see the results of the in-home one first before scheduling in-lab. But I could be wrong...

Just trying to be vigilant in not getting unnecessary ($$$) testing done. Those bills add up fast!

[Hydrangea]

It's possible they scheduled the lab one as a just-in-case (to get her on their calendar), and would cancel it if it's not needed.

[Plmnb]

Finally, I can add my two cents on here.  I am brand new member and hesitate to offer anyone advice, but here it goes.  Well, not really advice, but my thoughts.

I have had both Sleep Lab studies and in-home study.  The in-home study was because my insurance company at that time would not pay for a Sleep Lab study.

The study at home was very simple.

The study in the lab, more involved.

I personally have no problems with Sleep Lab studies.  My apnea is so severe that first I fall asleep quickly because I am so tired, and when I wake-up in the middle of the night I am so miserable that I don't care who is around. And I have no concerns about being watched. Especially since this last time I wanted them to see my sitting up in bed cross legged and leaning over with my head almost touching the mattress. (My husband told me I do this often).  I prefer having as much information as possible, which is usually the result of in lab study.

My in-home study provided much less information, I was sort of uncomfortable hooking myself up to the very simple set up because I was so afraid I was doing it wrong.

So, basically- I think the in the Lab Study is better, at least for me.

Good luck to your wife!

Plmnb

[Big Guy]

Both of my sleep studies were done in-lab. My insurance had no qualms paying for them. 

I reported in @ 9 pm and was out the door by about 5:30 am or so. I was allowed to take my OTC sleep aids both nights.

[Jeff8356]

Thanks for your response everyone!
When I went through my sleep study (~5 years ago) our insurance did not cover in-home studies (with the exception of Oximetry/Sp02).  Now they do, and technology has changed/improved since then.

I picked up the Sleep Profiler for my wife today.  It IS NOT the in-home PSG type of unit.  It is an EEG type of headband, nothing more.  The somewhat roundabout answer I got from the RST was that they use it to help determine if her sleep disorder is Insomnia based (Psychological) or Apnea based (OSA, etc.).  I am not sure if posting the link would violate rule #5 but here is some info from the Sleep Profiler web page:

In-home EEG Sleep Monitor

Sleep Profiler™ EEG Sleep Monitor provides in-home multi-night pre-treatment and post-treatment objective assessment of sleep architecture and sleep continuity for sleep medicine. Real-time sleep monitoring and voice messages ensure patients acquire high quality recordings.
Sleep Profiler includes web-based delivery of validated auto-staged editing and report generation. Full disclosure signals acquired from the forehead provide total time and percentage sleep, REM and SWS, sleep efficiency, total and average number of cortical, sympathetic and behavioral arousals, and the frequency and intensity of snoring

Key features:

• 3 channels of frontal EEG
  
  
• Pulse rate and optional ECG
  
  
• Quantitative snoring
  
  
• Head movement and head position
  
  
• Optional sub-mental EMG
  
  
• Up to 16 hours of recording between battery charges
  
  
• USB 2.0 provides data download in a matter of seconds
  

She is also scheduled for a PFT (Pulmonary Function) and the in-lab PSG (Sleep study), then her follow up with the Dr.

I am having trouble with understanding the necessity of doing the EEG first, then having it done again as part of the PSG.  Seems redundant to me.  But I could be wrong.