Preparing workspace

STOP-BANG Sleep Apnoea Score

Eight yes/no items on snoring, tiredness, blood pressure, BMI, age, neck size and sex give a STOP-BANG score out of 8.

About this tool

STOP-BANG Sleep Apnoea Score

Eight yes/no items on snoring, tiredness, blood pressure, BMI, age, neck size and sex give a STOP-BANG score out of 8.

The STOP-BANG questionnaire scores eight risk factors for obstructive sleep apnoea — loud Snoring, daytime Tiredness, Observed pauses in breathing, high blood Pressure, BMI over 35, Age over 50, Neck circumference over 40 cm and male Gender — one point each, for a total out of 8. It comes from Chung and colleagues (Anesthesiology, 2008) and is widely used in pre-operative assessment because it is quick and deliberately sensitive. A total of 0-2 is low risk, 3-4 intermediate and 5-8 high risk of moderate-to-severe apnoea.

How to use STOP-BANG Sleep Apnoea Score

  1. 1

    Open STOP-BANG Sleep Apnoea Score on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.

  2. 2

    Tick the four S · T · O · P items — loud snoring, daytime tiredness, observed pauses in breathing and high blood pressure.

  3. 3

    Fill the B · A · N · G half: Weight (kg), Height (cm), Age (years), Neck circumference (cm) measured at the Adam's apple, and Sex.

  4. 4

    Read the STOP-BANG score out of 8 with its risk band, the STOP subscore, your BMI and whether the refined high-risk criteria are met, then press Copy result.

Why use STOP-BANG Sleep Apnoea Score

  • Measurements done for you

    Height and weight become the BMI item, so you never have to work out whether you are over 35 kg/m².

  • Refined criteria included

    Flags the higher-specificity rule: a STOP subscore of 2 or more combined with male sex, BMI over 35 or a neck over 40 cm.

  • Transparent scoring

    An item-by-item table shows exactly which of the eight letters scored, not just the total.

Common use cases

  • Filling in the screening questionnaire before a pre-operative anaesthetic assessment, where STOP-BANG is routinely requested.
  • Checking whether loud snoring plus daytime sleepiness is enough to justify asking for a sleep study.
  • Understanding why a partner's report of choking or gasping at night carries the same weight as a measurement.
  • Seeing how much of a score is driven by fixed factors (age, sex) versus changeable ones (BMI, neck size).

Frequently asked questions

What STOP-BANG score means high risk of sleep apnoea?

A total of 5 to 8 is classed as high risk of moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea, 3 to 4 as intermediate and 0 to 2 as low. Many anaesthetic departments treat 3 or more as the trigger for extra precautions around surgery.

What neck size counts on the STOP-BANG questionnaire?

The original cut-off is a neck circumference greater than 40 cm, roughly a 16-inch collar, measured around the neck at the level of the Adam's apple. Some later versions use sex-specific values of 43 cm for men and 41 cm for women; this page uses the original 40 cm.

Can I have sleep apnoea with a low STOP-BANG score?

Yes. The questionnaire is built to be sensitive rather than specific, but it still misses cases — particularly in slim women, who score no points for BMI, age, neck or gender. If you have witnessed pauses in breathing, morning headaches or unrefreshing sleep, ask for assessment regardless of the number.

Does STOP-BANG diagnose sleep apnoea?

No. It only estimates the likelihood that a sleep study would find moderate-to-severe apnoea. Diagnosis needs an overnight sleep study — home respiratory polygraphy or in-lab polysomnography — which measures how many times per hour breathing actually stops. Discuss your result with a doctor.

Embed this tool on your site

Add the STOP-BANG Sleep Apnoea Score widget to your blog or website — free, responsive, no signup. Just keep the “Widget by AltFTool” credit link visible.

<iframe src="https://www.altftool.com/embed/widget/stop-bang-sleep-apnoea-score"
  title="STOP-BANG Sleep Apnoea Score — free AltFTool widget"
  width="100%" height="640" style="border:0;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden"
  loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" allow="clipboard-write"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px;margin:4px 0 0">Widget by <a href="https://www.altftool.com/tools/all/stop-bang-sleep-apnoea-score?utm_source=embed&amp;utm_medium=widget" rel="nofollow">AltFTool — free online tools</a></p>

Browse all embeddable widgets →

Discover more

Guides & more from AltFTool