Multiple latency test
Diagnostic tests for the treatment of sleep disorders

When excessive drowsiness appears during the day, in the absence of stimuli that keep us alert, we should practice an exploratory test to determine the degree of this drowsiness, in an objective way. This test is also called the Multiple sleep latency test (MSLT). Latency means the time it takes for the patient to fall asleep.

Five sleep recordings are made, usually during the morning, after an overnight sleep recording. Each of these sleep recordings lasts approximately 20-30 minutes and are performed at an interval of 2 hours. The time it takes for the patient to fall asleep and the presence of REM sleep are quantified. This gives us an objective idea of the intensity of daytime sleepiness. It is very useful for diagnosing Narcolepsy.