You’ve finished your home sleep apnea study and received your sleep test results. Here’s a plain language overview of your sleep study test results, how to review your doctor’s diagnosis and recommendations, and what to do now that the sleep apnea testing is completed.
An effective home sleep study test will quantify your type and severity of sleep apnea and further clarify if a positional component is present in your unique sleep apnea distribution pattern.
Home sleep study test results may contain a variety of different information, including a patient’s symptoms and clinical history, current medications, and vitals (height and weight). If your sleep study provider is like SleepSomatics and is accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, then your results should also contain an overview of the diagnostic testing protocols utilized in your sleep apnea evaluation.
STEP 1: Find your AHI
The first thing you want to find is your Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI). The AHI is the hourly index of sleep apnea episodes recorded during your sleep study. In the same way that a person can experience high blood pressure during stressful situations but not have chronic hypertension, it is also possible to experience rare or infrequent breathing disturbances and not necessarily be diagnosed with sleep apnea.
A home sleep study test Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) means, in plain language, that you pause or stop breathing [__] number of times per hour, on average, during sleep.
The purpose of the AHI is to differentiate the severity of your breathing disturbances.
< 5.0 AHI = Normal indices of sleep apnea episodes
5.0 - 15.0 AHI = Mild Sleep Apnea
15.0 - 30.0 AHI = Moderate Sleep Apnea
> 30.0 AHI = Severe Sleep Apnea
STEP 2: Confirm your type of apnea (obstructive, central, or complex/mixed)
There are four common types of apneic episodes recorded during a home sleep study test:
Hypopnea - a period of partially-reduced or shallow breathing caused by a relaxation of muscles in the upper airway or throat, measured with 30 - 89% restriction of the airway or loss of airflow that lasts 10 or more seconds
Obstructive Apnea - a period of near-total loss of airflow caused by a relaxation of muscles in the upper airway or throat, measured with 90% or greater restriction of the airway or loss of airflow that lasts 10 or more seconds
Central Apnea - a period of near-total loss of airflow where no obstruction is occurring but for which there is insufficient respiratory effort caused by neurological, cardiac, or pulmonary dysfunction (also lasting 10 or more seconds)
Mixed Apnea - a respiratory episode lasting 10 or more seconds with both central and obstructive apneic features
The sleep specialist or physician who interprets your home sleep study test will usually diagnose your type of sleep apnea based upon the predominant frequency and features of the episodes recorded. It is possible to experience rare episodes of any of these sleep apnea episodes and not necessarily be diagnosed with that form of sleep apnea.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea - the most common type of sleep apnea, caused by a physical obstruction in the airway or back of the throat, featuring obstructive apneas, hypopneas, and disruptive snoring
Central Sleep Apnea - a rare type of sleep apnea that is often seen in patients with neurological or cardiac dysfunction and opioid and alcohol use
Mixed Sleep Apnea (Complex Sleep Apnea) - more commonly seen in patients with a severe form of obstructive sleep apnea and a lesser secondary central sleep apnea component
STEP 3: Confirm if there is a positional component to your apnea distribution
Some sleep apnea patients experience supine positional dependent apnea – a type of sleep apnea that is aggravated by gravity when sleeping on your back. Supine sleep apnea patients may only experience sleep apnea when sleeping flat on their back. If your doctor identifies your sleep apnea as position-dependent, then you may be able to begin utilizing positional-elevation measures to control your sleep apnea beginning tonight.
Positional-Elevation Treatment for Supine Sleep Apnea
Positional-elevation measures to treat supine sleep apnea are non-medical in nature, because no formal treatment is utilized. Therefore, a patient can begin using positional-elevation measures to control their supine sleep apnea without a prescription or costly treatment:
Sleep exclusively in the lateral position (left side or right side);
Sleep lateral with partial elevation up to 20 degrees beneath your shoulder, elevating both the shoulder, neck, and head (not just stacking pillows under your head, which could further narrow or collapse the airway);
Trial body elevation and wedge pillows off Amazon if you find that sleeping on your lateral side is difficult (popular options like MedCline pillow can be helpful but are not necessarily covered by insurance for treatment of sleep apnea);
Avoid alcohol, tobacco, and narcotics prior to sleep (as all of these can further obstruct the airway and/or depress your pulmonary function and central nervous system).
Non-Supine Sleep Apnea and Formal Medical Sleep Apnea Treatments
If you have sleep apnea and it is not treatable with positional-elevation measures, request a consultation appointment with your doctor or a sleep specialist to get opinions on formal medical treatments like nasal CPAP/BPAP, otolaryngologic surgery, or dental sleep medicine mandibular positioning appliances.
Do you have sleep problems and need an evaluation sleep study? For home sleep testing and sleep study procedures, consider SleepSomatics, an American Academy of Sleep Medicine accredited sleep disorders center serving Austin, TX for over twenty years. Request an appointment at SleepSomatics for a sleep study now for more information.
