Level 1 vs Level 3 Sleep Studies

Sleep is a critical part of our lives, as it helps us maintain a healthy lifestyle and improves our overall health. With sleep studies we can monitor our sleep patterns and diagnose any sleeping disorders that may be affecting us.

Level 1 and Level 3 sleep studies are the most common study types and differ in several ways:

Level 1 in-lab sleep studies are referred to as the gold standard in sleep medicine. Although Level 3 studies can be very convenient, they are not as sensitive as Level 1 studies. You can think of a Level 3 study as doing a chest X-ray and a Level 1 study as doing a Cat Scan or MRI of the chest–a Level 1 study offers much higher resolution and is able to detect smaller abnormalities.

A Level 3 study can at times provide a sense of false security when the test is negative. If in doubt, one should always consider undergoing a Level 1 In-Lab study.