How Does Home Sleep Testing Work?

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a potentially serious sleep disorder characterized by frequent interruptions in breathing through the night that keep you from developing a restful sleep cycle. OSA is typically diagnosed through sleep testing to record the incidence of breathing stoppages. 

At Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine Group, LLC in Monroe, New Jersey, we offer home sleep testing for your convenience. Sleep studies in clinics can be ineffective. You may not sleep well due to the different sleep locations.  

Today, we take a look at home sleep testing and how it works to help you understand and prepare for your own OSA home sleep study. 

The basics of home sleep testing

While there are different designs of home testing kits, most contain four primary components: 

• Finger clip: a device that reads blood oxygen levels in your body
• Nasal cannula: a clip-like device that measures airflow through your nose
• Chest band: a belt that goes around your chest and detects breathing movement
• System monitor: sometimes attached to the chest band, the system monitor records the data produced by the other components

Some systems can transmit data directly, while others store information to download later. A microphone might be available on some systems to detect snoring and breathing interruption sounds. 

Home sleep testing doesn’t provide information about your sleep cycle or the quality of your sleep from a restfulness standpoint. Instead, it focuses on the way you breathe while sleeping. 

Typically used for one night, a home sleep test can’t conclusively diagnose or rule out OSA in all cases, but it can often give solid evidence that OSA is present. 

The benefits of home sleep testing

While sleep clinics can provide more detailed data about aspects of your breathing and sleep patterns, home testing has some advantages that clinics can’t match. 

Comfort

While sleep clinics create comfortable and restful surroundings, you’re still sleeping in an unfamiliar place. That itself can interfere with regular sleep patterns, and some people may not be comfortable with the thought that sleep technicians are monitoring their data in another room. 

Convenience

You can schedule your home sleep test at your own convenience without waiting for clinic availability. There’s no commute to go to sleep, and you can maintain your familiar routines that help you relax and prepare for bed. 

Affordable 

Home sleep test kits don’t require technicians, monitoring staff, or the expense of a facility with its associated overheads. Your health insurance plan may cover the cost of your home sleep test. 

There are limitations to home tests, making them unsuitable for some patients. Talk to Dr. Andrew R. Freedman and our sleep professionals to learn more. 

Contact Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine Group, LLC by phone or online to arrange your obstructive sleep apnea consultation today.