More often then not, they tell you 'inconclusive' results unless you are observed snoring and waking or having some sort of sleep obstruction. And then you get to pay a $3-4k bill for the worst night of sleep of your life, if you were in the States.

I really have the least amount of respect for sleep clinics I have had the displeasure of working with.

Outside the U.S., I paid exactly nothing for a night in a sleep clinic. I had the option of a take home kit, but I happen to live within walking distance of the hospital where the clinic was located, so I chose to sleep there.

It wasn't the worst night of sleep of my life, but it definitely wasn't the best. The beds were cheap and simple, all the wires and electrodes were annoying, and the rain on the metal prefab clinic building was loud.

To be honest, I went because my partner complained about my snoring. If it meant a $3-4k bill, I would not have gone.

Yeah, I mean I would definitely recommend going to a hospital in Thailand for the sleep study rather than UCSF's sleep clinic. You might even save money with the cost of room, board, and plane tickets included.

The problem is that we don't understand most sleep disorders.

Sleep apnea is the most common sleep disorder, and it's easy to identify with equipment that you take home and use for a night. If you have it, there are different treatment options depending on the cause.

Other disorders are more difficult to treat, and sometimes they just don't have an answer. I'm still struggling with my sleep issues - they can describe it based on a full sleep study, but there's not a good categorization for it in the DSM, which means they can't even say if it's physiological, psychological, or a combination of the two. That makes it very hard to treat.

$3-4k sounds steep? I guess that is where they provide the accommodation. I had a take home one and it was much cheaper (privately paid IIRC, not subsidized by government). Outside of the US.

They provide the accommodation and then have like 10 people being monitored by 1-2 technicians overnight. It is pretty lame to be billed the amount they did for the equivalent of a couple hundred dollars of overhead and then manhours.

My fitness watch can record SpO2 levels during sleep, that should be enough to tell you if you possibly have a problem. It is a fitbit sense.