The snoring spectrum: acoustic assessment of snoring sound intensity in 1,139 individuals undergoing polysomnography.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To quantify the snoring sound intensity levels generated by individuals during polysomnographic testing and to examine the relationships between acoustic, polysomnographic, and clinical variables. DESIGN The prospective acquisition of acoustic and polysomnographic data with a retrospective medical chart review. SETTING A sleep laboratory at a primary care hospital. PARTICIPANTS All 1,139 of the patients referred to the sleep laboratory for polysomnographic testing from 1980 to 1994. INTERVENTIONS The acoustic measurement of snoring sound intensity during sleep concurrent with polysomnographic testing. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Four decibel levels were derived from snoring sound intensity recordings. L1, L5, and L10 are measures of the sound pressure measurement in decibels employing the A-weighting network that yields the response of the human ear exceeded, respectively, for 1, 5, and 10% of the test period. The Leq is a measure of the A-weighted average intensity of a fluctuating acoustic signal over the total test period. L10 levels above 55 dBA were exceeded by 12.3% of the patients. The average levels of snoring sound intensity were significantly higher for men than for women. The levels of snoring sound intensity were associated significantly with the following: polysomnographic testing results, including the respiratory disturbance index (RDI), sleep latency, and the percentage of slow-wave sleep; demographic factors, including gender and body mass; and clinical factors, including snoring history, hypersomnolence, and breathing stoppage. Men with a body mass index of > 30 and an average snoring sound intensity of > 38 dBA were 4.1 times more likely to have an RDI of > 10. CONCLUSIONS Snoring sound intensity levels are related to a number of demographic, clinical, and polysomnographic test results. Snoring sound intensity is closely related to apnea/hypopnea during sleep. The noise generated by snoring can disturb or disrupt a snorer's sleep, as well as the sleep of a bed partner.