What AHI reading is acceptable on CPAP?

[mon]

I am wondering what is an acceptable reading for apneas per hour while being treated with the CPAP? Should our AHI be zero if our treatment is successful, or is that too much to expect?

[BlackSpinner]

An AHI less the 5 is considered treated. Most of us prefer to be lower then that however getting to zero is almost impossible.

[mon]

Thank you. That makes me feel better.

[chunkyfrog]

Many aim for a combination of low AHI and good sleep, without sacrificing one for the other.

[Papit]

And of course, how you feel during the day, is very important. Are you more alert and "with it"? That's at least as important.

Good luck to you.

[avi123]

AHIs up into the 20th don't indicate if your treatment is adequate or not. Check this report:

http://tinyurl.com/d3f5x7z

Notice this in the report:

He {Dr Rapoport} defines severe cases as those with an AHI of 30 to 50 events per hour or greater. “This is definitely bad … and I want to treat it,” he stressed. Obstructive sleep apnea symptoms are also likely to be severe enough to warrant treatment in patients with an AHI of about 20 per hour; SDB can probably be ruled out at an AHI of about 10 per hour.

[Tipiford]

I'd be most happy to trade my <5 AHI for a great night's sleep and that very rested feeling throughout the next day.

Tipiford

[49er]

I agree that the AHI reading isn't a total indication of someone's health and functioning. How many times have people posted on this forum who had one near zero and felt horrible? Additionally, I would think that sleeping through the night on the pap machine with an AHI of 10 with one quick wakeup would be better than sleeping with an AHI of 5 in which the person woke up several times and had severely fragmented sleep.

Still, I am not comfortable saying that having an AHI above 5 doesn't need to be treated. Many people have posted on this forum who had supposedly minor apnea who were suffering big time before they received pap therapy. Additionally, if the apnea events are long for so called minor apnea, that can be just as bad as someone who has a severe case but has events that don't last very long.

49er

[BlackSpinner]

Probably far more important is the duration of the apneas. Having 10 of 10 seconds might be preferable to having one at 100 seconds.

[jdm2857]

...The lack of a standard definition for hypopnea is another limitation of the AHI. Furthermore, measuring hypopnea is difficult because of the inaccuracy of the devices currently available to monitor airflow during sleep.

For example, thermistors do not actually detect airflow but the passage of hot air, Dr. Sullivan explained. Even pressure transducers, which do measure airflow, have only limited ability to detect changes in breathing, he noted...

So, the devices we have to measure the effects of SDB are inaccurate and of limited ability.

...Probably the best indicator of SDB, however, is simply the response to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment. “It really is a no-brainer,” Dr. Sullivan remarked, pointing out that CPAP administration is especially easy with the newer devices that automatically set the appropriate amount of positive pressure...

And yet, we can rely on these devices to automatically treat the patient.

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