Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, jcsm.11790. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.11790 Dr. Douglas Kirsch et al.
Points
- The PLATO-11 tool was developed through a multi-phase process including patient interviews, pilot testing in 10 sleep centers, and validation with 560 adults with obstructive sleep apnea.
- This new questionnaire exhibits excellent psychometric properties, with strong internal consistency (α = 0.94) and high test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.91–0.97), ensuring dependable longitudinal assessment.
- Construct validity was confirmed through correlations with established measures, and the tool is highly responsive to symptom improvement, allowing it to discriminate between different patient severity and BMI groups.
- Consisting of 11 questions with a 7-day recall period, the assessment takes under four minutes to complete and is written at a 5th-grade reading level.
- PLATO-11 is available in both English and Spanish in paper and electronic formats, making it ready for immediate implementation into diverse clinical workflows and electronic health records.
Summary
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has developed and validated the Patient-reported Longitudinal Assessment Tool for OSA (PLATO-11), an 11-item questionnaire for clinical use. The primary objective was to develop a valid and feasible patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure to monitor treatment response and longitudinal symptom progression in adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The tool was developed in accordance with FDA guidance using a multi-phase, mixed-methods approach that included concept elicitation with patients, pilot testing in 10 AASM-accredited sleep centers, and final psychometric validation.
The validation study involved longitudinal online surveys administered to 560 adults diagnosed with OSA and a control group of 40 adults. The final 11-item instrument, which assesses daytime and nighttime symptoms over a 7-day recall period, demonstrated strong psychometric properties. Statistical analyses revealed excellent internal consistency (α = 0.94) and high test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.91–0.97). Construct validity was established through moderate to strong correlations with existing, validated measures. The PLATO-11 scores were also shown to be responsive to symptom improvement following treatment and could successfully discriminate between OSA severity and body mass index groups.
The PLATO-11 is designed for practical implementation in busy clinical settings, with a mean completion time of under four minutes. Developed at a 5th-grade reading level, the tool is available in both English and Spanish and can be administered in paper or electronic formats compatible with electronic health records. The AASM presents PLATO-11 as a valid, reliable, and accessible instrument that fills a previously identified gap in outcome assessment, enabling efficient and standardized monitoring of patient-reported outcomes across all stages of OSA management.
Link to the article: https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.11790
References Kirsch, D., Abbasi-Feinberg, F., Davies, C., Gamaldo, C., Thomas, S., Koochaki, P., Otto, C., Lipman, K., & Rosen, C. L. (2025). The Patient-reported Longitudinal Assessment Tool for OSA (Plato): Development and validation of a new clinical tool to assess response to obstructive sleep apnea treatment in adults. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, jcsm.11790. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.11790
