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For more information, please contact us:
Phone: 401-649-4070
Brown Health Medical Group Sleep Center
375 Wampanoag Trail, Suite 302B
East Providence, RI 02915
Sleep Center at Brown Health Medical Group
The Brown Health Medical Group Sleep Center is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM). Located in the Riverside neighborhood of East Providence, the center is designed to help you feel relaxed and at ease during your sleep study. Each of our two private rooms offers the comfort of a hotel room, with a queen size bed, soft lighting, a wall mounted TV, cable access, WiFi, and individual temperature controls to help you settle in.
We accept most major insurance plans and offer appointments seven nights a week, making it easier to find a time that works for you.
Frequently Asked Questions About a Sleep Study
What Is a Sleep Study?
A sleep study, also known as “polysomnogram,” is a noninvasive, pain-free procedure that usually requires spending a night in a sleep center. During a polysomnogram, a sleep technologist records multiple biological functions that occur while asleep, such as brain wave activity, eye movement, muscle tone, heart rhythm and breathing via monitors placed on the head, chest and legs and applied with odorless, soluble paste, tape and non-restrictive fabric bands.
What Happens When I Get There?
Upon arrival for your sleep study, you will be greeted by the sleep technologist. Once you have been greeted and identification has been verified, you will be escorted to your sleep room. Your sleep room is set up similar to a hotel room, which includes a full-size bed with two pillows, a recliner chair, TV/cable/WiFi, personal temperature control unit, bottled water/snacks and a personal storage chest. Bathrooms/showers are located outside of the patient sleep room.
The sleep technologist will review your patient questionnaire and ensure that all the information needed for the test is up-to-date and accurate. The technologist will go over any questions you may have prior to the study. Depending on the physician’s orders, patients may be given therapy during the course of the study, which may include medication, oxygen or positive airway pressure therapy delivered through a device called CPAP or BiPAP.
Once the sleep sensors are applied, you may read or watch TV in bed until you are sleepy, according to your usual routine. The technicians will stay in a separate control room to watch a computer monitor record your sleep information.
Can I Use the Bathroom?
Many people have to use the bathroom during the night. If that occurs, the monitoring equipment can be unplugged quickly and taken with you into the bathroom. Simply notify the technician for assistance with the equipment.
Can Someone Stay with Me?
A family member or attendant may stay if medically necessary and approved by the sleep staff. There are recliner chairs in all the bedrooms. However, if the family member snores or otherwise disrupts the sleep of the person being tested, this can sometimes cause problems with the testing. Family members are not allowed to share the same Sleep Center bed.
What Happens After the Test?
After a full night’s sleep is recorded, the data will be tabulated by our scoring technologist and provided to a physician for interpretation. When the physician receives the results, they are copied into a formal sleep study report and forwarded to the physician who referred you to our lab. Please allow two weeks to complete this process.
Types of Sleep Study Tests
The following is an explanation of the tests that are performed at our Sleep Center at Wampanoag Trail. You will be scheduled for one or possibly two of these tests. Your provider will inform you of what test(s) you are having performed at the time of your initial evaluation. The sleep technologist will confirm this before the study.
Overnight “Baseline” Sleep Study
This test is performed to diagnose sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and periodic limb movement disorder. The test will begin once you are asleep. As you sleep, non-invasive, flexible equipment attached to your head and body monitor your brain waves, breathing, and movement. A technician watches as you sleep via a discreet camera. You are awakened at approximately 5:30 a.m.
PAP Titration Study (Positive-Airway-Pressure Titration)
This test is performed if you are found to have obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, or hypoventilation with hypoxemia. This test cannot be performed until one of those diagnoses has been confirmed. Once you are diagnosed, you may need a PAP titration study before you can begin treatment.
A PAP titration study is an in-lab sleep study used to determine the best settings for treating your sleep disordered breathing. During the test, the technologist will help you find the best mask/interface and adjust the therapy, therefore the settings are personalized for you. The most common titration study is Continuous Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy. CPAP is the first line therapy for treating most sleep-related breathing disorders. This is a highly effective therapy, whereby a mask is worn over the nose during sleep. Pressure from a small medical air compressor delivers air through your nasal passages and into the airway under gentle pressure, keeping it open and allowing you to sleep and breathe normally.
In some cases, CPAP does not work well for a patient’s condition, or another mode of therapy is needed to fully control the sleep disordered breathing. In this case, your clinician may order a similar test, for example a BiPAP or Bilevel Titration study or adaptive servo ventilation (ASV) study.
Half CPAP or Half BiPAP
This is a combination overnight sleep study and positive airway pressure titration. Once you are asleep, you will be monitored during the first half of the night to confirm that you have sleep apnea. This is termed a “baseline” period. If you are found to have moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnea, then CPAP or BiPAP titration will begin during the second half of the night.