The clinical respiratory journal
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Requirements for diagnostic tests include high validity and good repeatability. ⋯ When designing a study to examine a diagnostic test, the following principles should be followed. First, the order of performance of the diagnostic test and the gold standard in repeated measurements should be randomised. Second, in repeated measurements, the test situations should be equal. Third, the technicians performing the tests should be blinded to the data obtained in the other test or to the result of the gold standard. A pilot study is recommended before conducting the study to examine the diagnostic test.
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Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is a prevalent condition that covaries with cardiovascular complications and most likely with arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus. ⋯ The diagnosis of OSAS should be performed with a polygraph, and the first-line treatment of moderate to severe OSAS is CPAP. Lastly, compliance for this treatment should be optimised with regular clinical controls.