What are the requirements for an OSA diagnosis?

[lorraineg57]

Since my OSA is considered mild, I was wondering what the guidelines are to qualify for an OSA dx?

[LSAT]

Generally an AHI greater than 5 is considered OSA, but other things enter into it...like your O2 concentration.
5-14 = Mild.....15+ = Moderate

[lorraineg57]

Generally an AHI greater than 5 is considered OSA, but other things enter into it...like your O2 concentration.
5-14 = Mild.....15+ = Moderate

So which number is actually my AHI here? In one spot it says 6.3 but then it says 62 events per hour supine?



The oxygen saturation on room air was 98 %. There were 6 apneas and 30 hypopneas yielding an apnea + hypopnea index (AHI) of 6.3 events per hour. Of the 6 apneas counted, 1 of these apneas was a central event. The AHI was 62.0 events per hour in the supine position and 0,8 events per hour in non-supine positions.

(oxygen saturation reached a nadir of 90%.)

I had a lot of arourals though (126). Arousal +awakening index of 22.8 events per hour

[zoocrewphoto]

The 63. is probably the average for the whole night while the 62 was while you were on your back.

They will usually do a comparison of REM and non-REM sleep too.

[RogerSC]

According to my sleep study, I have an AHI of 6.7 on sleeping on my side, 40 sleeping on my back, and the AHI for my sleep study was about 28. So your mileage may vary *smile*. I guess that I must have slept on my back just over half the time, then, but I don't remember sleeping on my back at all.

Chances are that if you have a lower AHI on your side than you do on your back, that your total AHI for the sleep study would be less than your AHI if you only slept on your back. Assuming that you do sleep on your side for some period of time during the study *smile*.

Parenthetically, it is barely possible that if I lose some weight, and sleep on my side all the time, I could give up the CPAP, who knows? I'm not betting on it, though *smile*.

[lazer]

Also, an RDI index of atleast 5 might get you in along with a recommendation from your doctor. It is my understanding that RDI factors in a few other things such as flow limitations, periodic breathing, ect... that aren't always scored as the more common OSA indicators such as OAs and Centrals.

In my case this became the deciding factor on getting my insurance on board and since my symptoms and reports seem to fall more in line with UARS than with OSA at this time.

[lorraineg57]

The 63. is probably the average for the whole night while the 62 was while you were on your back.

They will usually do a comparison of REM and non-REM sleep too.

So the 6.3 is my actual AHI? No comparison of rem to non-rem in the summary. I wish I'd been able to get a more detailed report.

[chunkyfrog]

With my BCBS, 15 was the minimum they would pay for treatment (without comorbidity).
I was lucky (!) enough to have HBP with an AHI of only 13.

[signal20gsxr]

My AHI was only 2.8 yet my RERA index was 23.5. So my overall RDI was 26.3 which is considered moderately severe. Total arousal index was 34.8 and spontaneous arousal index was 11.4 per hour. Needless to say I was getting kicked out of my sleep cycles. Sleep architecture was all messed up. Hardly any deep sleep and way to much NR1 and NR2 sleep.


My official diagnosis is Upper Respiratory Resistance Syndrome (UARS) on my sleep study. It was like pulling teeth to get my pulmonologist to prescribe a A-PAP due to a low AHI but because my RDI was so high they went ahead and wrote a script. I knew that I had nights where O2 was dropping down to 84% from my pulse/oximeter reading I had taken before I had my sleep study done. My internist said that organs start shutting down at O2 levels that low.

[lorraineg57]

My AHI was only 2.8 yet my RERA index was 23.5. So my overall RDI was 26.3 which is considered moderately severe. Total arousal index was 34.8 and spontaneous arousal index was 11.4 per hour. Needless to say I was getting kicked out of my sleep cycles. Sleep architecture was all messed up. Hardly any deep sleep and way to much NR1 and NR2 sleep.


My official diagnosis is Upper Respiratory Resistance Syndrome (UARS) on my sleep study. It was like pulling teeth to get my pulmonologist to prescribe a A-PAP due to a low AHI but because my RDI was so high they went ahead and wrote a script. I knew that I had nights where O2 was dropping down to 84% from my pulse/oximeter reading I had taken before I had my sleep study done. My internist said that organs start shutting down at O2 levels that low.

Is apap working for you? Frequent arounsals/awakenings are an issue for me, Apap for the last couple weeks with no relief.

[signal20gsxr]

Is apap working for you? Frequent arounsals/awakenings are an issue for me, Apap for the last couple weeks with no relief.

I've only been using it for 36 days now. Yes its been a Godsend! My fight or flight system became so overly active for so many years while I was sleeping I became a basket case literately. RERA's are down big time. I only had one last night and AHI is down to 1.68. I will post up a report from last night when I am on my work computer tomorrow.

I noticed a huge difference after the first few nights. I still have a long ways to go but I am feeling a little better each day. Its different for everybody. Some it takes a while. I was told its takes at least 30 days for you to start to notice a difference but for me that was not the case.

Are you able to look at the data from your machine so you can see whats going on?

[lorraineg57]

Is apap working for you? Frequent arounsals/awakenings are an issue for me, Apap for the last couple weeks with no relief.

I've only been using it for 36 days now. Yes its been a Godsend! My fight or flight system became so overly active for so many years while I was sleeping I became a basket case literately. RERA's are down big time. I only had one last night and AHI is down to 1.68. I will post up a report from last night when I am on my work computer tomorrow.

I noticed a huge difference after the first few nights. I still have a long ways to go but I am feeling a little better each day. Its different for everybody. Some it takes a while. I was told its takes at least 30 days for you to start to notice a difference but for me that was not the case.

Are you able to look at the data from your machine so you can see whats going on?

Yes, I check it frequently. My AHI is generally below 1 so I don't believe that's the issue. My awakenings are nowhere near my events timewise so I don't know what's going on. I'm going to keep using it until someone tells me it's not working lol.....even though I'm pretty sure it's not. I was on cpap for a month, almost 3 weeks on APAP.

[signal20gsxr]

Yes, I check it frequently. My AHI is generally below 1 so I don't believe that's the issue. My awakenings are nowhere near my events timewise so I don't know what's going on. I'm going to keep using it until someone tells me it's not working lol.....even though I'm pretty sure it's not. I was on cpap for a month, almost 3 weeks on APAP.

Hum. Hopefully someone else can post up as to why your still having so many issues. Just so I am understanding correctly you are actually waking up when the machine is not recording any events? Are you looking at just AHI or other things as well such as clear air way events, RERA's etc. Have you posted up a report from a night or two? There are quite a few on here that are much more knowledgeable about this that I am. If no events are showing up when your getting your awakenings there might be something else going on?



Considering my RERA's were so high during my sleep study now I am only getting 1 or 2 a night its definitely is helping me.

Here is a graph from two nights ago. I felt like I slept very well and had a very good day as far as energy level and mood.

[lorraineg57]

Yes, I check it frequently. My AHI is generally below 1 so I don't believe that's the issue. My awakenings are nowhere near my events timewise so I don't know what's going on. I'm going to keep using it until someone tells me it's not working lol.....even though I'm pretty sure it's not. I was on cpap for a month, almost 3 weeks on APAP.

Hum. Hopefully someone else can post up as to why your still having so many issues. Just so I am understanding correctly you are actually waking up when the machine is not recording any events? Are you looking at just AHI or other things as well such as clear air way events, RERA's etc. Have you posted up a report from a night or two? There are quite a few on here that are much more knowledgeable about this that I am. If no events are showing up when your getting your awakenings there might be something else going on?



Considering my RERA's were so high during my sleep study now I am only getting 1 or 2 a night its definitely is helping me.

Here is a graph from two nights ago. I felt like I slept very well and had a very good day as far as energy level and mood.

I've posted quite a few actually. Yes, you're correct, my awakenings are in no way related to my events. I'm sure there is something else going on, just don't know what.

SH doesn't record RERA's so I don't know about that.

[BlackSpinner]

Yes, I check it frequently. My AHI is generally below 1 so I don't believe that's the issue. My awakenings are nowhere near my events timewise so I don't know what's going on. I'm going to keep using it until someone tells me it's not working lol.....even though I'm pretty sure it's not. I was on cpap for a month, almost 3 weeks on APAP.

It is working as far as your events are concerned, but not with respect to your wake ups. Not having events is very important.