Numbers (%) of neurologists using each criterion
| Symptoms alone (n = 52) | |
| Orthopnoea | 36 (69) |
| Breathlessness | 37 (71) |
| Morning headache | 39 (75) |
| Daytime sleepiness | 35 (67) |
| Other* | 1 (2) |
| Symptoms and physiological impairment (n = 69) | |
| Orthopnoea | 56 (81) |
| Breathlessness | 52 (75) |
| Morning headache | 57 (83) |
| Daytime sleepiness | 58 (84) |
| Daytime hypercapnia | 48 (70) |
| Nocturnal hypoxaemia | 53 (77) |
| Nocturnal hypercapnia | 39 (57) |
| VC† | 27 (39) |
| Pimax† | 2 (3) |
| SNIP† | 9 (13) |
| Other* | 4 (6) |
| Early intervention (minimal or no symptoms n = 17) | |
| VC† | 12 (71) |
| Pimax† | 2 (12) |
| SNIP† | 4 (24) |
Groups are not mutually exclusive.
↵* ‘Other’ triggers included: sleep disturbance, poor appetite and sleep disordered breathing.
↵† Not all responding neurologists specified physiological indexes or thresholds for referral.
Pimax, maximum inspiratory pressure; SNIP, sniff nasal inspiratory pressure; VC, vital capacity.