A Review of Recent Advances in Screening for Obstructive Sleep Apnea during Pregnancy

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep-disordered breathing in pregnant population, which is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes, and may have long-term health consequences on both mothers and children. Currently, the vast majority of pregnant women are underdiagnosed due to the difficulties in extensively performing polysomnography, a gold standard in OSA diagnosis. So it is essential to seek other screening strategies and tools to accurately identify pregnant women with high risk of OSA to improve their perinatal outcomes. We reviewed the prevalence of OSA in pregnancy, screening status, screening timing, target population and recent advances in screening tools, to providing a theoretical basis for implementing the screening in this group.

Keywords

• sleep apnea, obstructive|pregnancy|screening|home sleep apnea test|polysomnography|review