Snoring and nocturnal oxygenation. Is there a relationship?
OBJECTIVE
To test the hypothesis that snoring, independently of sleep apnea, is a significant determinant of nocturnal oxygen saturation.


METHODS
Prospective study.


METHODS
Sleep disorders clinic, university teaching hospital.


METHODS
Six hundred twenty-five nonapneic snorers referred to the clinic.


METHODS
Nocturnal polysomnography, which included objective and simultaneous measurement of snoring and oxygen saturation, was performed in all patients. Pulmonary function tests and smoking history were also obtained.


RESULTS
Multiple stepwise linear regression analysis demonstrated that age, body mass index, and pulmonary function were the most important determinants of nocturnal oxygen saturation, accounting for 20 to 30% of its variability. Snoring was a significant, although weak (partial r2 = 0.073, p < 0.001) determinant of lowest, but not mean, nocturnal oxygen saturation. When mild snorers were matched one-for-one for body mass index to a group of severe snorers, only the lowest, not the mean, nocturnal oxygen saturation was significantly different between the groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Snoring is not associated with sustained nocturnal hypoxemia, but it is weakly related to lowest nocturnal oxygen saturation.
Hoffstein
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Department of Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000097:blood; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012913:Snoring / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D010100:Oxygen