Question about OSCAR median numbers/resp rate

Hi. Noob here. I've been on a resmed 11 cpap for a bit over a month. Pressure is 11, epr is 1. Currently I'm using a Dreamwear FFS. My events (per resmed) are below 1 a night. I've been using OSCAR for a few weeks and have tried to do as much homework as I can on my own. Pls forgive any ignorance shown in my post.

My question is this. Consistently, every night, my median resp rate is 22 or above. Today was my cpap follow up visit with the pulmonology NP. I brought this up as a concern as this seemed rather high. She stated that her information stated my average/mean is 16 so not to worry, that the norm night RR can vary from person to person but if I was concerned about my breathing, I'd have to bring it up to my primary care dr.

I expected her to tell me RR was not an OSA issue so being referred to my PCP did not surprise me. What I was wondering was why does OSCAR report median values but not mean? Forgive me if I'm being dense but what about a median value carries more importance than a mean? And if RR is not related to OSA, why is it recorded by my machine?

I'm a bit untrusting of medical people and since learning that myair/resmed daily results are not entirely accurate, I've been trying to interpret the data as best I can myself on OSCAR. It would help me to know more about what significance median has over mean and if my RR number really is inconsequential.

Sorry for the book. Thank you very much!

JulieK wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 30, 2023 8:26 pm

What I was wondering was why does OSCAR report median values but not mean?

Because it's programmed that way, if you're not using Resmed, it's an option in the CPAP tab of preferences.

JulieK wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 30, 2023 8:26 pm

Forgive me if I'm being dense but what about a median value carries more importance than a mean?

Wyy?

JulieK wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 30, 2023 8:26 pm

And if RR is not related to OSA, why is it recorded by my machine?

Why are any of the statistics that are there, there? because they can.

JulieK wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 30, 2023 8:26 pm

I'm a bit untrusting of medical people and since learning that myair/resmed daily results are not entirely accurate, I've been trying to interpret the data as best I can myself on OSCAR. It would help me to know more about what significance median has over mean and if my RR number really is inconsequential.

The real question is, are those legit RR numbers, are are they artificially inflated because there's little squiggles around the zero crossing point? Have you actually gone in and *counted* breaths for a few minutes and run the numbers?

The reason to use median instead of average, in any attempt to describe a distribution, is that the average is far more sensitive to extreme values. The median, on the other hand, tells you what is true for 50% or less of the events counted, regardless of the outliers, be they high or low. To give you a far fetched example:
A company gives it's chairman a million dollars a month.
It has 10 workers, chairman included. It reports that the average salary is $100,090 dollars a month.
Sounds nice.
Trouble is, all other workers except for the chairman only earn $100 a month. Not so nice at all.
The median for this same company would be $100 -- which means that 50% of the workers earn $100 a month or less, and even the 90th percentile earn $100 a month or less. Thus the median shows you how terribly skewed the payment distribution is in that company - something the average does not tell you.

Percentiles (the median is the 50th percentile) give you a sense of what is happening for half the night. Your breathing rate is 22 breaths per minute, or less, for at least half the minutes that night.

The doctor's additional info, that your average is 16 indicates that you spend that time on values definitely lower than 22. If it were not so, your average would have been closer to 22, or even higher, had you been breathing even faster.

ozij wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 01, 2023 12:00 am

The reason to use median instead of average, in any attempt to describe a distribution, is that the average is far more sensitive to extreme values...

...Percentiles (the median is the 50th percentile) give you a sense of what is happening for half the night. Your breathing rate is 22 breaths per minute, or less, for at least half the minutes that night.

The doctor's additional info, that your average is 16 indicates that you spend that time on values definitely lower than 22. If it were not so, your average would have been closer to 22, or even higher, had you been breathing even faster.

Thank you very much for your response. I get it now. OSCAR is great but for someone like me who doesn't always know how to interpret various data, it can lead to unnecessary concerns. I'm glad I have a place to ask questions.

JulieK wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 01, 2023 6:26 am

I'm glad I have a place to ask questions.

Are you interested in posting one of your Daily Details charts in this thread? It can be much more revealing that a single statistic. (I am curious to view the chart. )

palerider wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 30, 2023 9:02 pm

Because it's programmed that way, if you're not using Resmed, it's an option in the CPAP tab of preferences

Very helpful. Thanks.

Wyy?

I'm curious. And I wanted to know, in my case, which number was more significant. As the poster below you very nicely explained, the median is 22 *or below* which I previously did not understand. Therefore, it is in a normal range. And since my average is 16, this confirms it.

Why are any of the statistics that are there, there? because they can.

Helpful. Thanks so much.

The real question is, are those legit RR numbers, are are they artificially inflated because there's little squiggles around the zero crossing point? Have you actually gone in and *counted* breaths for a few minutes and run the numbers?

No. I did not think to do this. Thanks for your time.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 01, 2023 6:39 am

Are you interested in posting one of your Daily Details charts in this thread? It can be much more revealing that a single statistic. (I am curious to view the chart. )

I am willing. I just have to figure out how and can't right now (I'm "functionally illiterate" with computers according to my senior-year-computer-engineering-major son lol). I will try later, thanks.

JulieK wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 01, 2023 6:46 am

I'm "functionally illiterate" with computers

For the less technically inclined ---> use a free account at SleepHQ.com.

JulieK wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 01, 2023 6:26 am

ozij wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 01, 2023 12:00 am

The reason to use median instead of average, in any attempt to describe a distribution, is that the average is far more sensitive to extreme values...

...Percentiles (the median is the 50th percentile) give you a sense of what is happening for half the night. Your breathing rate is 22 breaths per minute, or less, for at least half the minutes that night.

The doctor's additional info, that your average is 16 indicates that you spend that time on values definitely lower than 22. If it were not so, your average would have been closer to 22, or even higher, had you been breathing even faster.

Thank you very much for your response. I get it now. OSCAR is great but for someone like me who doesn't always know how to interpret various data, it can lead to unnecessary concerns. I'm glad I have a place to ask questions.

Well, here's something to help with just how meaningless the statistics often are:
http://adventures-in-hosehead-land.blog ... de-to.html