PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mihai Udrescu
AU  - Alexandru Topirceanu
AU  - Ana Muresan
AU  - Stefan Mihaicuta
TI  - <em>AER </em>score: An efficient predictor for sleep apnea syndrome
DP  - 2014 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P2237
VI  - 44
IP  - Suppl 58
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P2237.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P2237.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2014 Sep 01; 44
AB  - Objectives. To quantitatively predict the risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) without measuring the patient's AHI, based solely on the anthrophometric risk factors in a relevant population, validated with our previous network-based methodology (Mihaicuta et. al, ERJ Sept. 2013, pp.407s).Methods. A reference database of 1367 patients and a newer 231 validation database from Timisoara “Victor Babes” Hospital (2005-2012; Fall 2013), with over 100 measured criteria, were used to define a methodology inspired by Network Medicine. The AER Score considers 4 relevant metrics: BMI, blood pressure, neck circumference and the Epworth score. The AER scale from 1 to 7 is divided in four risk-severity intervals: low, moderate, high and very high risk of OSA.Results. The AER predictor emerges from the statistical analysis of both patient databases and helps easily assess the risk of OSA of a new patient. Using it to prioritize patient treatment/evaluation we manage to achieve an overall risk-class correlation of 68.8% between the predicted OSA severity and actual severity determined by measuring the AHI. The rate of cumulative AHI is diagnosed based on patient scheduling.Conclusion. The score serves as a predictive classifier of severity, with a high degree of accuracy, if a patient is prone to developing OSA. This model is used to categorize OSA severity and triage patients for diagnostic evaluation without the need for expensive and time-consuming investigations.