Background: Upper airway disfunction, soft tissue inflammation, and turbulent airflow are frequently present in both sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and exercise induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO). SDB and EILO may share common aetiological factors or have currently under appreciated causal relationships. Given anecdotal suggestion of increased rates of SDB-EILO coexistence, we assessed if the Berlin Sleep Questionnaire (BSQ) would be useful for screening for risk of sleep disordered breathing in people being investigated for EILO.

Method: 71 patients attended for a continuous laryngoscopy exercise test to assess for EILO between August 2019 and March 2021, of which 56 completed the BSQ.

Results: Of the 56/71 individuals who completed the BSQ, 61% were female, with a mean(SD) age 32(13). Ten (18%) were identified as high risk of OSA and 20 (38%) reported the presence of snoring. 32 patients had a confirmatory diagnosis of EILO, of which 7/32 (22%) had a reported snoring.

Conclusion: In our setting, the Berlin Sleep Questionnaire was a useful screening tool for the coexistence of EILO and SDB, interestingly a higher risk of OSA was reported in this sample than might be expected in age comparable general public, which should prompt research into the nature of this relationship, including objective assessment with sleep studies.