Split Night Sleep Studies
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A split night sleep test is an overnight sleep test done in a
sleep testing facility. It is usually a planned change in
the testing no later than half way through the night. It
occurs when a certain level of Obstructive Sleep Apnea is
found during the first few hours of the sleep test. On
some tests, the night will be split when severe apnea is
discovered although it was not planned.
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The first few hours of the test is performed to observe
and record your usual sleep. Sleeping while wearing the
diagnostic monitors may not feel like normal sleep to
you, but sleep observed while wearing those monitors is
usually representative of your typical sleep. The
diagnostic portion of the study will be stopped when a
certain level of apnea is observed. You physician usually
determines the level of apnea at which the study will be
split.
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For the remaining portion of the test time, treatment
with positive airway pressure will be started and
continued through the night of the test. Thus, the first
half of the night is used to establish the diagnosis of
obstructive sleep apnea while the second half is used to
determine how much pressure will be needed to treat
the apnea.
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The pressure test performed during the second half of
the night is called a Positive Airway Pressure titration or
more commonly a PAP Titration. A PAP titration is
performed to measure the effect of breathing air at a
slightly higher pressure. During this stage of the test, the
sleep technician monitors your measurements for
obstructive apnea and gradually increases the amount of
pressure to determine the pressure required to control
the obstructions.
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A person with sleep disordered breathing problems
might be able to be diagnosed and have treatment
assessed in one night when a split night test is
performed. However, realize that you may still have
significant sleep apnea even though you did not have a
split night study.
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Sometimes a scheduled split night test does not get split.
This can occur when no apnea is observed, when the
amount of apnea observed does not reach the level
required to meet the criteria, or when there was not
enough time left in the study to complete the titration.
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Page Thought –Positive airway pressure treatment is the first treatment considered for apnea because it is the safest most effective therapy for obstructive sleep apnea.
Updated June 2022