Sleepyhead data

[uriahsky]

Is there a simple guide to understanding the data and charts that Sleepyhead displays? I know about the glossary and it explains things but I could use some guides on what to look for. Is it good if a chart shows a low number or high? What is a good or a not good pattern and what do you do if things are not good. I did a search and I couldn't really find any basic guide to get started with.
Thank you
Russ

[Pugsy]

There happens to be such a wide range of normal values for a good bit of the data seen on SleepyHead that we haven't come up with any sort of "guide" for all the data. I have been trying to put together a tutorial that explains a lot of the stuff you see but I haven't got very far with it. I have a link to it in my signature line. Some questions have been answered.
If you have specific concerns about what you see it is best to just post your report for review here and ask about what you are having trouble understanding.

For newbies I usually just tell them to work on understanding the AHI and its breakdown and significance (less than 5 is the goal) and their leak line (what is acceptable and what isn't) and pressure line if they are using an auto adjusting pressure machine.

[Simbot]

What's the difference between Clear Airway Apnea, and Obstructive Apnea? I don't see that on the definitions page.

Also what does Periodic Breathing Mean?

Thx

Nevermind I found definitions for these. One thing I can't find though is the AHI bar graph breakdown. Each bar is separated into different colors, what do the various colors mean?

My "Leak" number is around 25 all night long, is this OK? bad?

[Pugsy]

One thing I can't find though is the AHI bar graph breakdown. Each bar is separated into different colors, what do the various colors mean?

The colors are just colors chosen at random to signify a classification of event.
Like the purple for clear airway events...if you look over at the flow graph you will see each color representing whatever that event happened to be.

Respironics machines report total leak which is the mask vent/intentional leak rate plus any excess leak.
Since there is always going to be a vent rate there is always going to be some leak show up. Vent rate varies with mask type and pressure (more pressure equals more vent rate). A nice steady leak line around 25 L/min usually indicates only very minimal leaks which probably is primarily the vent rate which you have anyway. Don't try to compare a Respironics leak graph or numbers to a ResMed machine leak numbers. ResMed machines subtract a vent rate prior to the reporting of any numbers so what ResMed users see is all excess leak. They might see a 0.0 leak number. Their leak number to avoid is 24 L/min per ResMed. Respironics users won't ever see a 0.0 leak number with current reporting and their leak number to avoid is more generous (up around 75 L/min for some and 90 L/min for others but Respironics never really tells us where there "Large Leak" flags get scored. I personally never saw a large leak flag at 80 or 85 L/min but I have seen them at 90 L/min. Someone the other day got a large leak flag at 75 L/min. So with the variables it is hard to give someone a definite number to avoid. For sure less than 50 L/min is well within safe margins. Full face mask users who also happen to be using a much higher pressure are going to see vent rates near that 50 L/min mark. For those people we need to allow them a little more wiggle room before we worry about leak numbers. SleepyHead doesn't flag a Large leak event on the graph.
Encore software does flag a large leak event clearly so when in doubt we could always compare higher vent rate numbers on the Encore software and see if it would be flagged then.

When well below these upper limits...no need to worry. Yours is well below any possible large leak territory and nothing to worry about. You have a lot of wiggle room before leaks might impact therapy.
I always try to add that even if the leaks aren't bad enough to impact therapy and they disrupt sleep then they need to be worked on. If the leaks don't disturb sleep....then I don't worry about them.
Heck, even short live spikes into large leak territory aren't the end of the world unless they are often and wake us up.