Berlin Questionnaire
The Berlin Questionnaire is an obstructive-sleep-apnoea oriented screening tool. This page is for clinics. It is not a diagnostic sleep study and not a public test.
Overview
What is the Berlin?
The Berlin Questionnaire organises OSA-related risk questions for clinician review. A screen is not a sleep-study diagnosis and is not interchangeable with STOP-Bang.
Development and clinical use
Netzer and colleagues published the Berlin Questionnaire in 1999 as an OSA screening instrument for primary care.
- Catalogue status
- Educational entry
- Production scoring
- Not independently verified
- Mode
- self-report
- Typical use
- Clinician-reviewed intake
- Clinical role
- OSA screening support for clinician review
Administration
A focused client experience
The respondent gives height in metres and weight in kilograms, then answers the snoring, fatigue, driving, and blood-pressure questions. Snoring items are asked only after Yes to snoring. The driving-frequency item is asked only after Yes to nodding off while driving.
- One question at a time with visible progress
- Large keyboard-operable response choices
- Previous, next, and answer-review steps
- Clear confirmation that results go to the clinic
The illustration shows layout only. It does not reproduce Berlin Questionnaire item wording.
Report showcase
Designed to make evidence easy to review
The downloadable synthetic example illustrates report layout using invented response patterns, without patient data or instrument questions.
- Named instrument, version, and provenance
- Item-level response pattern without source wording
- Methodology, references, and clinical boundary
- Responsible clinician review rather than automated conclusions
Clinician review required
Methodology
Understand the measure and its scoring conventions
Lirena scores three categories. Category 1 and category 2 are positive at 2 or more points. Category 3 is positive when high blood pressure is Yes or BMI is greater than 30 kg/m2. A BMI of 30.0 is not greater. High risk is two or three positive categories. Low risk is zero or one. The result is a published screen label for clinician review. It does not diagnose obstructive sleep apnoea.
References
- Original Berlin Questionnaire paperNetzer NC et al. Using the Berlin Questionnaire to identify patients at risk for the sleep apnea syndrome. Ann Intern Med. 1999;131(7):485-491.
Questions
What clinics ask before they evaluate the Berlin
These answers stay inside educational catalogue scope. They do not replace official manuals or clinician judgement.
Does the Berlin Questionnaire diagnose OSA?
No. It is a screening questionnaire. Diagnosis remains a clinician task and may require investigation.
Can I complete it here?
No. This page is educational catalogue information.
How is the Berlin Questionnaire used on Lirena?
As a sleep-intake self-report screen. Clinicians review the result with other sleep history.
Should we use STOP-Bang instead?
That is a clinic governance choice. They are different instruments with different item sets and evidence bases.