[Sleep apnea screening in a pulmonary-internal medicine rural practice in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern].

In a screening study of a total of 230 patients covered on the occasion of an x-ray mass screening (Group A: 157 patients) or within the framework of a pulmonology-cardiology-orientated medical consulting-room practice (Group B: 73 patients), 178 patients said "snoring" was their major symptom, whereas 35 patients considered "apnoea" to be the main complaint. Looking at both groups more closely and with greater differentiation we find in Group B a high incidence of the characteristic symptoms "snoring" and "apnoea" and a score of more than +2, compared with Group A, concomitant with a high coincidence of a positive finding in the MESAM study (Group A: ration 55.5:1, Group B: ratio 4.3:1). 18 patients were found to be suffering from sleep apnoea syndrome. Due to limited facilities we have so far been able to adjust only two of these patients to CPAP/BiPAP in the sleep laboratory of the Hospital for Pulmonological Diseases in Schwerin. We conclude that it seems problematic to conduct mass screening on a broad basis of the population (another argument being the cost/benefit ratio), whereas it appears to be more effective to conduct an on-target search for sleep apnoea syndrome (SAS) in high-risk groups. A prerequisite for appropriate coverage and treatment of sleep apnoea patients is to provide patients with on-target and wide-scope information on the disease pattern; furthermore, both doctors and the population must be provided with examination facilities also on an outpatient basis.