Registered Respiratory Therapist CSE Practice Exam

What diagnostic modality is used to diagnose sleep apnea?

Spirometry Polysomnography Chest X-ray Arterial blood gas

Correct Answer:

Polysomnography

Explanation:

Polysomnography is the diagnostic modality used to diagnose sleep apnea. It records multiple signals during sleep—brain activity, eye movements, muscle tone, airflow, respiratory effort, oxygen saturation, and heart rate—so clinicians can compute the apnea-hypopnea index and determine whether breathing pauses are obstructive or central. This overnight study captures events only present during sleep, which daytime tests cannot show. Spirometry measures lung function while awake and doesn’t document nocturnal breathing pauses. Chest X-ray provides anatomical pictures but not sleep-related breathing events. Arterial blood gas shows gas exchange at a single time point and doesn’t diagnose sleep-disordered breathing.

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