Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Type 2 Diabetes: A Screening Approach

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder common among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). The aim of this quality improvement project was to increase identification and referral for sleep study for individuals with T2D at moderate to high risk for OSA. Pre- and post-intervention patient samples were analyzed to compare the number of referrals for sleep study. Results demonstrated that none of the patients pre-intervention were referred for sleep study compared with 77% of patients post-intervention. This project demonstrated implementing an evidence-based tool to screen patients with T2D for OSA leads to higher rates of detection and referral. •It is estimated that up to 80% of patients with type 2 diabetes may have obstructive sleep apnea.•Untreated obstructive sleep apnea can worsen comorbidities, including type 2 diabetes.•Standardized screening tools can serve as a cost-effective and convenient methods of screening patients for obstructive sleep apnea in primary care settings.•Use of STOP-Bang screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea can increase number of patients identified as moderate to high risk and increase rate of referrals.•Patient acceptance of referral for evaluation of obstructive sleep apnea is poor.