“I’ve never had a patient with a normal overnight pulse oximetry study,” said Tara Taylor, Family Nurse Practitioner at Ebert Family Clinic. She has been a provider there for a year, after 14 years working as a nurse in the intensive care unit at Swedish Hospital. Of course, the study that tracks oxygen and heart rate during sleep is usually performed on patients with symptoms such as snoring, fatigue, poor-quality sleep, attention deficit, depression, or high blood pressure.
What is normal for healthy adults at altitude? When would sleeping on oxygen help cure or prevent some of these symptoms? Do we even notice when we’re being deprived of oxygen while we sleep?
These are the questions addressed in a new investigator-initiated research trial at Ebert Family Clinic. The catalyst for the study was a conversation between Dr. Christine Ebert-Santos and Annette Blakeslee FNP at the 7th World congress of Chronic Hypoxia in La Paz, Bolivia in February. Annette is the provider for the US Embassy staff at 12,000 ft elevation. State department officials spend months or years on assignment there, and Annette wanted to know when she should be concerned. Local residents living at altitude for generations are adapted, while people living in La Paz and Summit County for months or years are acclimatized but still at risk for conditions caused by the low-oxygen environment.
The study, called “Overnight Pulse Oximeter Study at Three Altitude Sites”, will recruit healthy adults ages 20 to 65 years. Participants will fill out a health questionnaire, take home a simple monitor worn on the finger and wrist to wear during sleep, and return the monitor the next day. Ebert Family Clinic staff will download the data for further analysis. Participants will be notified by a provider regarding the results of their study. De-identified data will be transferred to Excel spreadsheets from which graphs and charts can be generated.
Besides dividing participants into three different altitude ranges between 7,000 and 12,000 feet, data will be analyzed by age groups and symptoms. “Everyone responds to altitude differently,” states Dr. Ebert-Santos. “There are hundreds of chromosomes that affect our ability to adapt. Many studies show the benefits of living in a low-oxygen environment, but a small percent of us will do better sleeping on oxygen. We are hoping this study will establish normal values and suggest who should be evaluated further.” — Dr. Christine Ebert-Santos
For more information, or to become a participant in this sleep study, residents of altitudes 7,000 ft. or above in Colorado for at least 6 months and between the ages of 20 and 65 years old should call Ebert Family Clinic at (970) 668-1616.
