Clinical Implications of Snoring Time (%) in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Snoring is the vibration sound of respiratory structures when air stream flows through the narrowed airway during sleep. In this study, we aimed to determine the clinical meaning of snoring time (%) of patients who have simple snoring or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of 240 cases of clinical data and polysomnography, which were diagnosed with either simple snoring (n=53) or OSA (n=187). Clinical data included anthropometric measurements such as body mass index, neck and waist circumference (WC), and wasit-hip ratio (WHR). Snoring time (%) was calculated as the total time of snoring per hour of sleep. RESULTS: In the female group, snoring time (%) increased in OSA compared to simple snoring, which showed a negative correlation with N3 (r=-0.395, p=0.002) and a positive correlation with the arousal index (r=0.39, p=0.003). Moreover, in females, snoring time (%) showed significant correlations with respiratory indexes: hypopnea index (p=0.008), apnea-hypopnea index (p=0.049), and lowest SpO��� (p=0.003). WC and WHR showed significant correlations with snoring time (%) in both male and female. CONCLUSION: Snoring time (%) of females showed important clinical associations with sleep quality and respiratory index. Therefore, snoring may have an important role in the pathogenesis of OSA in females