The objective of this article was to describe a new method for assessing expiratory flow limitation during spontaneous breathing, using the negative expiratory pressure test to identify patients at risk for obstructive sleep apnea. Upper airway collapsibility is evaluated by measuring decreases in flow and in expired volume in the first 0.2 seconds after negative expiratory pressure application at 10 cmH2O. The negative expiratory pressure test is easily applied and could be adopted for the evaluation of expiratory flow limitation caused by upper airway obstruction in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Keywords: Sleep apnea, obstructive/diagnosis; Sleep apnea, obstructive/prevention and control; Airway resistance.