Vibratory snoring index

Need your help. My sleep doctor has ask me to get an answer to a question for him. He is aware that I have the software and monitor this forum to improve treatment of my sleep apnea, so he has ask me to find an answer to the following: What unit of measure is used to measure vibratory snoring? He has been unable to find an answer, he has asked the sales reps and they don't have an answer. In looking at the reports, he states that depending on the unit of measure, a difference between 5 and 10 could be very significant or just a minor event. Any info will be greatly appreciated. I told him there are some very knowledgeable people on this forum and that an answer would be forthcoming.
Don't let me down!
Gilda

It really doesn't matter unless he has a way to adjust either the snorer or the machine. Remstar Autos like snores, if that's a problem, set the top pressure to reasonable limits, limit the range to 2cm below your best cpap pressure and 2 cm over it. If the pressure is correct, and you can breath through your nose without much restriction, you are pretty much in. Some have physical problems that cause more snores, but I don't want to go under the knife for it. Jim

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GoofProof, Thanks for the reply. No snoring for me is not a problem. We were just discussing the report and he stated that he would like to know what the unit of measure was. That he had never been able to find out. I told him I would pose his question to the forum and let him know what the response was. Maybe someone has the answer to the question.
Thanks
Gilda

My guess:

I haven't really seen snore index used to measure anything, only that you snore and it may be a contributing factor to sleep arousals/interruption.

Snores generally don't cause a drop to oxygen levels like obstructive events such as hypopnea or apnea so they sometimes get ignored for the most part. They will try and eliminate them during a titration and a autopap may chase them, but many times they cannot be eliminated with cpap without causing other problems.

I think it is more that you snore or you don't is what they are looking for, not the frequency of said snores.

If you think about it, as adults we take anywhere from 12 to 20 breaths per minute. So if you snored on inhale for every breath taken during an hour snapshot, that would be 12 x 60 or 720 breaths per hour.

I've never seen anyone have a Snore Index=720 before (if you snored on every breath), but I personally have seen a SI=262 from my own reports, so I snored for a good chunk of that hour snapshot. But I think mine was more from mask noise vs actual snoring.

I have never looked it up in EncorePro Help screens before so I have no idea what it says there.

This is what Encore Pro has to say on Snore:

Snore Index

Snoring events are scaled on the left. The dates of therapy are displayed along the bottom of the graph. The pressure signal is evaluated for the possibility of snores when the patient is inhaling.

The Snore Index displays the total number of snoring events per night divided by the hours of use.

NOTE: Snore detection is disabled at pressure set points greater than 16 cm H2O. The average, displayed to the right of the graph, is calculated by taking the total number of events divided by the number of therapy days.

I'd still like to know why he wants to know something he can't control, and if he thinks he can control it. I do find that for me, the higher the Snore rate the higher the AHI, but I don't know if it's the Dog wagging it's tail or the Tail wagging the dog. Both seem to get higher as my leak rate increase. Jim

Snoredog wrote:

I've never seen anyone have a Snore Index=720 before (if you snored on every breath), but I personally have seen a SI=262 from my own reports, so I snored for a good chunk of that hour snapshot. But I think mine was more from mask noise vs actual snoring.

Snoredog, in the 71 recorded days on autopap, my snore index has averaged in the 400s and 500s. Most of my charts show an almost continual line of VS.

High end was 667.6 with 5:11 hours sleep, average OA and AHI, no large leaks, under 50 average leak, and nothing different about that night that I could determine.

Low end was 35.6, only night under 200 and best readings I've had. Sleep was 6:53 hours with 1 apnea of 6 seconds and l hypopnea. OA was 0.1, HI was 0.1, but AHI showed 0.3. I had no large leak, and average leak was 50. Again, there was nothing different about that night that I could determine.

I record each night what if any meds I take, how bad edema is, how I feel next morn, pressure settings, etc. That's what I'm referring to as "nothing different that I could determine."

BTW, my last PSG showed less than 10 total snores. I do wake up with some kind of nasal noise (like a snort) sometimes. I hope the nasal noise is not occurring most of the night, but if it is that might be showing as VS.

Snoredog, do you think mask noise could cause such a high snore index? I don't have enough mask noise to bother me or keep me awake.

Goofproof, I'm not terribly concerned about VS, but if it could be controlled and would improve overall therapy I'm all for it.

I don't want to nor would I be able to display my charts, but if anyone has any comments or ideas on my high snore index and/or what might help, I would love to hear from you.

Regards,

Alisha

Dragging the hose on the headboard counts as snoring, I've even wondered about noise in the room, T.V., Radio, I use Nature Sounds one has thunderclaps (loud) I bet they are measured every night too. Jim

Thanks, Jim. My bed doesn't have a headboard and I find that making the room as dark and quiet as I can makes for better sleeping. The hose is under the covers and while I move or stretch sometimes during the night I very seldom turn over. The exhaust vents are at the top of the mask, and nothing touches them.

If you or anyone else have any hints as to what could be causing the smartcard to think I'm snoring, it would be appreciated. Anything? Anyone?

Regards,

Alisha

I have definitely been able to relate higher vibratory snore numbers to noises such as hose movement, sniffing, and excess water in the tube. When I visit my daughter, my hose hanger is not high enough and the slightest movement on my part moves the hose around on the bed and usually results in a "vibratory snore." Back when I was using the heat on the humidifier, I had a few problems with rainout and those, too, resulted in especially high vibratory snore reports.

Do I snore? My husband says I don't anymore -- at least not loud enough to disturb him. I use Poligrip Strips on my mouth and based on their condition when I wake in the morning, I don't think I'm snoring at all. I do think, however, that my sometimes partially congested nose makes noise. Quite frankly, as long as I know I'm not mouth breathing, I don't worry about that part of the Encore Pro report at all.