The sleep apnoea questionnaires that determine whether GPs directly refer patients to MBS-funded sleep studies are unfit for purpose, specialists suggest.

Since October 2018, GPs have been allowed to directly refer patients who score eight or higher on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) plus meet minimum thresholds on one of three other assessments: STOP-BANG, the OSA-50 or the Berlin questionnaire.

But research published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday suggested that up to 64% of patients with clinically relevant obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) might fail this screening process.

The researchers performed type 4 sleep studies on 424 patients, including 286 who reported a symptom that, in the researchers’ opinion, might prompt them to see a GP.