Stupid questions from a beginner

[Scoop227]

I just started using my cpap about 2 weeks ago. I feel better already. I've been following my results online. I understand that AHI is an average of events throughout the night. But my results show the AHI in decimal form such as: 0.20 or 0.40. Is that 2 events or 20% of an apnea? Or 4 events or 40% of an apnea? I would hope that's not 20 and 40 apneas since my sleep study showed a mild apnea. I'm not sure how there could be 20% or 40% of an event, but I want to be certain.
Also, what does "Leak 95th %" refer to? These are shown as 6.00, 4.80, 7.20.
Thank you.

[yippeekia]

Those aren't stupid questions.

Here is a link to more information about AHI- wiki/index.php/Apnea_Hypopnea_Index

Depending on the software that you are using, most likely that is a measurement of AHI per hour. The decimal places would make sense then.

Your other question also depends which equipment you are using. If you input your equipment, there are people on this board that can assist. You can also search for 95% leak rate.

[codinqueen]

Hi Scoop. Welcome! There are no stupid questions. I would answer you if I could but I don't know the answer. I think after most working people get home from work somebody who knows the answer will answer your question. I don't worry about my AHI that much. It looked good when I checked it last, and I have energy to burn during the day, so I don't sweat the small stuff. It took me about 3 or 4 months to catch up on my sleep debt when I first started CPAPA, but then I felt alive! Good luck to you!

[nanwilson]

There are NO stupid questions on this forum so don't feel bad. You had less than one per hour..... ahi is calculated by the number of hours that you have sleep, for instance, if you had one apnea per hour your ahi would be 1. 95% leak is the number in which your leak line was at or below 95% per the leak graph.
Please register here and add your equipment to your profile so that we may help you better in the future.
AND>>>>>WELCOME to the best darn forum for us "hoseheads"
Cheers
Nan

[OkyDoky]

Welcome,
AHI is the number of events divided by the number of hours you slept. Such as 6 total events divided by 8 of hours of sleep = AHI of 0.75.
The 95% numbers mean you were at or BELOW those numbers for the night. Different machines compute those numbers different so if you could post your equipment we could give specific answers.

[palerider]

AHI is an average... decimal form such as: 0.20 or 0.40.

as you said, AHI is an average, averages have decimals.

here's an *excellent* in depth explanation of what all the numbers mean, and where they come from:

http://adventures-in-hosehead-land.blog ... de-to.html

[WindCpap]

95% means that you were above those numbers 5% of the time, and below those numbers the rest of the time. It is a way of filtering out the occasional bursts of air that come out as you roll around.

[Roman Hokie]

95% isn't really accurate. Consider 95 percentile. This is about a statistical normal curve, also called the "bell curve".

If you line up each minute of your use of your machine during the night and the leak rate for each of those minutes, you would have a nice graph. Smallest to largest leak rate. If you had 100 minutes of sleep ranked, you'd put a line 5 minutes (for 8 hours, it's 24 minutes, BTW) from the rightmost minute line. THAT's the 95 % leak rate. That means that only 5% of the time, you exceeded the leak rate reported. 48 minutes for the 90% rate.

Windcpap nailed it.

[Scoop227]

Thank you everyone. My machine is an AirSense 10 Elite and my mask is an Airfit N10.

[OkyDoky]

If you become a registered member and then add your equipment it would show up each time you post. wiki/index.php/Registering_Equipment_in_User_Profile

[chunkyfrog]

There are stupid questions--they are the ones that are never asked, because
somebody would rather BE stupid than look it.

[WindCpap]

The leak graphs you get by using software like sleepyhead are really better for figuring out what is going on than just looking at the percentiles.

For example, when I first started CPAP, I would occasionally wake up to a mouth leak (once my wife woke me up). Looking at the graphs, I discovered that the leak would last about 10 minutes before it woke me. Also, you can look at the baseline leak to see if the mask/hose/humidifier is leaking all of the time or just some of the time.