Some patients are scheduled to stay the next day after their sleep study for a Multiple Sleep Latency Test. This test evaluates daytime sleepiness. When you wake up in the morning from your sleep study, the technologist will remove the breathing sensors and leg electrodes but will leave the head and EKG electrodes attached. These will stay on all day.

At two-hour intervals beginning at 8:00 a.m., you will be asked to lie down in bed and close your eyes for twenty minutes. These naps will continue throughout the day at approximately the following intervals: 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. When each nap is over, you will be asked questions about your sleep and how sleepy or alert you feel. Between the napping periods, you will be able to watch television, read, or use your computer, but you will not be allowed to lie down or take additional naps. After the last nap, the technologist will remove the electrodes and you will be allowed to leave sometime around 5:00 p.m.

 

Prepare yourself for your night in the Sleep Center as if you were going to spend a night at a hotel; bring with you everything you would need to spend the night away from home. This should include all medications, your pajamas or loose comfortable clothing to sleep in, toothbrush, books to read, etc. If you wish, you may bring your own pillow. You will not need to bring an alarm clock as the sleep technologist will wake you up in the morning. Please keep in mind that cell phones and pagers should be turned off, so that they will not disrupt your sleep study or another patient's sleep.

Smoking, alcohol use, illegal drugs and weapons are strictly prohibited on the premises.

If you will be staying for the daytime nap test (MSLT), you should bring something to read or view (such as a computer) to help pass the time between the nap tests. Please also bring something to eat for breakfast and lunch or be prepared to purchase food from the deli in the building.

All sleep studies contain 1,000 pages or more of data that must be analyzed and interpreted. Analyzing a sleep study is a time-consuming process. Each 30-second interval is carefully examined for multiple variables including sleep stage, breathing patterns, heart rhythm, muscle tone, movements, and awakenings. The sleep technologist must review the same page of data 3 or 4 times to correctly identify all events. The fully analyzed data is then reviewed by our board-certified sleep specialist who will provide the final interpretation. A final sleep study report, and your CPAP recommendation if you had a CPAP study performed, is then prepared and sent to your referring physician and to your primary care physician. This process usually takes 10 to 14 days. Please allow at least 2 weeks before you schedule your follow-up visit with your physician to review these results and for treatment recommendations. The Sleep Center technologist and the scheduling staff will not be able to provide your test results to you.