What Is a Sleep Study?

Do you often have problems sleeping? Do you feel tired during the day most days of the week? Talk with your healthcare provider or a sleep specialist. They will ask questions about your sleep and may suggest that you have a sleep study. This test can help diagnose a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea or narcolepsy. During the study, a special machine is used to monitor your sleep.

Who needs a sleep study?

You may need a sleep study if you have sleep problems that last longer than a few weeks and aren't because of too little sleep or a side effect of a medicine. Sleep disorders are important to diagnose. Untreated sleep disorders raise your risk for heart failure, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and depression. Talk with your healthcare provider. Be prepared to answer questions about your health history. Try to keep a daily sleep diary for a week or two. Write down the time you go to bed, the time you wake up, and anything that seems to affect your sleep. Then your healthcare provider can refer you to a sleep specialist and recommend a sleep study.

Monitoring your sleep

Your healthcare provider will decide whether you do your sleep test at a sleep center or at home with a portable device. In either case, your healthcare provider will discuss the results with you at a future visit.

• At a sleep clinic. Most sleep studies are done at a sleep clinic or a sleep lab. In most cases, you will need to stay overnight. You will sleep in a private room, much like a hotel or hospital room. A family member or a friend can come along. But they can’t stay overnight. A sleep technologist will attach painless adhesive sensors to your body to monitor you while sleeping. Let the technologist know if you have any allergies to adhesive products. Many people do not sleep as well as they would at home, but this typically does not affect the results. In most cases, you do not need a full 8 hours of sleep to make a diagnosis. In the morning, you can go home. Sometimes you may be asked to stay at the lab the next day for a daytime nap study.

• At home. At times, a sleep study can be done at home. A home sleep study provides most of the same information as a study done at a clinic. A special computer is loaned to you by a sleep clinic or a medical supplier. You will be given instructions on how to use it, or someone may come to your home to help. Before bedtime, the computer is turned on to monitor your sleep all night. In the morning, you return the computer.