Neck circumference and other clinical features in the diagnosis of the obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.

Abstract

Prospective study of these patients referred to a sleep clinic with symptoms suggesting sleep apnoea shows that neck circumference corrected for height is more useful as a predictor of obstructive sleep apnoea than general obesity. None of the questionnaire variables examined add to its predictive power, but alone it is inadequate to avoid the need for sleep studies to diagnose this disease.