What levels classify as severe sleep apnea?

myboards · Post by **myboards** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:09 pm

Just out of curiosity I was wondering how bad my sleep apnea was compared to others.

I'm not sure of the exact terminology, but I was told 90 events per hour. O2 levels were in the low 80's. This was 8yrs ago and things are going well on cpap. Setting of 12 cm/H2O.

Hadn't really thought about it before, and since finding this forum, I'm curious where this fall on the sleep apnea scale.
Dave

ColoradoDreamer · Post by **ColoradoDreamer** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:24 pm

You have severe sleep apnea at 90 events per hour. You will find in other posts on this forum of folk that have AHIs that more than double what you have. I don't know what the bell curve would look like in terms of where you would fall on it, but imagine that it would be somewhere in the middle of the pack.
In this is one instance I don't mind NOT having an impressive high score! My AHI and O2 levels at the sleep study are similar to yours.

blarg · Post by **blarg** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 2:01 am

I was told that an AHI (events per hour) of greater than 30 is "severe". Needless to say, regardless of what you call it, with 90 events per hour, you're stopping breathing more than once a minute. That's pretty hard to get rest through. XPAP would help you greatly.

myboards · Post by **myboards** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:28 am

I was so tired all the time I could not imagine being twice as bad. Amazing that such a simple treatment can be so life altering.
Dave

LDuyer · Post by **LDuyer** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 8:49 am

myboards wrote: Amazing that such a simple treatment can be so life altering.
Dave

It's more like getting back your life .... you know, that way we were LONG before suffering from sleep apnea. Happy Holidays!

Linda

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 9:48 am

I think you could get any cardiologist to write you a script for any machine
you wanted, if your SAO2 scored 10-15% below your awake SAO2. Even if
you only score an AHI of 10! Remember, the duration of the events is also
important...and the insurance companies really don't know everything..

justsharon · Post by **justsharon** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 2:23 pm

I too was told that anything over 30 events per hour was considered "severe". My sleep study showed an average of 100 events per hour and oxygen saturations down to 69%, was told their machines couldn't measure anything lower than 69%. Have had my cpap for 4 months now, I love it !

Happy sleeping,
Sharon

blarg · Post by **blarg** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 3:02 pm

myboards wrote:Amazing that such a simple treatment can be so life altering.

I tell people that don't understand that it's like putting glasses on for the first time (if they wear glasses anyway). You start to see the leaves on the trees and such.

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 3:12 pm

DEFINITIONS:
APNEA = cessation of airflow for 10 seconds or greater.
HYPOPNEA =>50% decrease in airflow for 10 seconds or greater with a decrease in oxygen saturation of >3%.
APNEA/HYPOPNEA INDEX (AHI) = apnea plus (+) HYPOPNEA/hour of sleep.
RESPIRATORY AROUSAL INDEX (RAI) = AHI +snoring related EEG arousals/hour of sleep.
AHI/RAI** Scale =<5 events /hour = (none); 5-15 events/hour = (mild); 15-30 events/hour = (moderate); >30 events/hour = (severe).
Respiratory related sleep fragmentation: Sleep arousals due to respiratory events or snoring.
Desaturation = Drop in O2 oximetry distribution saturation by 3% below average saturation.
SaO2 scale: >89%=(none); 85-89%=(mild);80-84%=(moderate); <80% (severe).
EPWORTH SLEEPINESS SCALE =<10=(does not indicate EDS (Excessive Daytime Somnolence));10-15=(indicates daytime somnolence-not excessive);>16 (indicates EDS).
RESPIRATORY EFFORT RELATED AROUSALS (RERAs)=Sleep Arousals due to respiratory events characterized by pressure flow limitations in the airflow indicator channel without significant O2 desaturations.
StageIII and StageIV are combined and referred to as Deep Sleep.
Sleep Efficiency = Normal is >80%

CollegeGirl · Post by **CollegeGirl** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 3:42 pm

Dreamer,
90 is actually on the high end of the scale. I've never seen anyone with 180 events per hour. That's insane.

I think I met one person, once, in chat with 150 events per hour - but that's HIGHLY unusual. The highest that's generally seen is 105, 110, somewhere in that range.

I'm right there with you, myboards. I have about 95 events per hour. That's VERY severe apnea - and not something you want to mess around with, for sure.

Bregory · Post by **Bregory** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 5:14 pm

That's interesting that 30 is considered severe. When I had my sleep test done I was averaging in the range of 40 events per hour and my RT said that was moderate.

He might have classified it as moderate because my O2 levels never dropped dramatically from 96% down to 88% or something like that (I don't remember now). Or maybe the classification is slightly different in Canada.

Either way call it moderate, call it severe sleeping through the night is heaven

tooly125 · Post by **tooly125** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 6:39 pm

5-20 events per hour = Mild OSA
20-40 events per hour = Moderate OSA
>40 events per hour = Severe OSA

bigguysez · Post by **bigguysez** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:42 am

My apnea was tipped off by my quarterly blood lests (due to some medications I take). My red blood cells were way high. On further testing my O2 levels were low 80s. Sleep test showed 100/hr with O2 levels in low 60s. I had to have two blood drains plus put on CPAP and oxygenator set at level 2. I couldn't take a nap at work now if I wanted to!

Jim

telly · Post by **telly** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:37 pm

bigguysez wrote:My apnea was tipped off by my quarterly blood lests (due to some medications I take). My red blood cells were way high. On further testing my O2 levels were low 80s. Sleep test showed 100/hr with O2 levels in low 60s. I had to have two blood drains plus put on CPAP and oxygenator set at level 2. I couldn't take a nap at work now if I wanted to!

Jim

I just was diagnosed and found out today that I have 100 events per hour.
This is one sleepy boy in need of his PAP.
Hopefully, I get my machine on Wed.
If I live that long.

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 12:01 am

tooly125 wrote:5-20 events per hour = Mild OSA
20-40 events per hour = Moderate OSA
>40 events per hour = Severe OSA

Don't know where you got your numbers, but if its a ABSM certified lab it goes by the standards established by the American Board of Sleep Medicine, as far as I know those standards haven't changed since 1999's adoption. I know there is been numerous discussions by various doctors and labs to change them but I haven't seen one.

The numbers from sleepapnea.org by SleepyDave seem to also match what I posted:

http://www.apneasupport.org/about2344.html

What levels classify as severe sleep apnea?

What levels classify as severe sleep apnea?

apnea severity

Re: apnea severity

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