Oxygen Saturation Variability in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients: Non Linear Measures and its Correlation with the Severity

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent sleep respiratory disorder. Polysomnography (PSG), the gold-standard exam for its diagnosis, is expensive and not widely available, generating a high rate of undiagnosed patients at risk of developing severe comorbidities. Therefore, studies seeking faster and cheaper alternative approaches to screening patients are of great interest. Although pulse oximetry signal (SpO2) is a key variable to diagnose OSA, the nonlinear dynamics of SpO2 over time have been poorly explored.