Most important data?

What is the most important data to keep a close watch on? AHI, pressure etc. In order of utmost importance. I realize they all are important. But, is there one that is more critical than the other?

The most important thing to keep track of is how you feel after your "restful" nights sleep.

I would put oxygen saturation high in importance because your body doesn't do well on reduced oxygen levels.

Then I would suggest that you are looking for a steady trend, or a reducing trend, in your index numbers.

Leaks can interfere with treatment, so you should also look for a steady trend, or reducing trend in leaks.

When I first began watching my numbers closely I looked at all the data for consistencies and irregularities. Now, 4 years later I look at my data every two weeks and also look at it if I feel tired or had restless sleep. Sometimes the data will reflect apnea as the cause of tiredness and sometimes not. For example I was very tired when my allergies kicked up this year and looked at my data to find zero AHI up to 1.5. This showed me that the tossing and turning didn't interpret to apnea events and that I was just tired from tossing and turning.

Each mask has a normal leak number published by the mask manufacturer, see if your leak number is close.

When I first began I tried to achieve an average AHI should be 5.0 or under. I watched what changes I made to my equipment changed the AHI. Among things I did to decrease my average AHI was finding a mask that worked for me, bought a hose hanger, changed my pressure range (carefully with the help of those who know much more than I about this), and tilt my bed up slightly.

I mostly watch my daily 90th percentile AHI, average 90% pressure, and average AHI over time. I look at all data my machine provides such as non-responsive/hypopnea events (wanting this number to be at zero to reflect accurate pressure range), average obstructive apnea, average hypopnea, average flow limitation, average vibratory snore, and mask leaks (paying close attention to max leaks data).

If my leak data goes higher I make changes to my headgear making it tighter or looser and sometimes if the trend continues to rise I buy new head gear as this usually means my headgear is worn out.

Let me know if this helped and we can further discuss your individual data and what changes you may want to try if needed.

Gabe wrote:What is the most important data to keep a close watch on? AHI, pressure etc. In order of utmost importance. I realize they all are important. But, is there one that is more critical than the other?

Assuming your lungs are healthy, it is very easy to keep a check on your data. All you need to look at is this one page and only the graphs - you do not have to look at the table at the bottom of the page.



1. You need to look at the pressure line. It should be fairly stable throughout the night without big changes in pressure. You see swings in the example from about 7.5 cm to 14. This is too unstable and the machine settings need tweaking.

2. You need to look at the Therapy Flags and get them minimized. In the example there are many flags in several categories - not good. More evidence that the machine settings need tweaking. The flags in the graph badly need to be cleaned out.

3. You need to look at the leak line. It should be fairly flat with no "Large Leak" indicators. The leak line in the example is acceptable.

That is it. Quite simple. Not much data to look at.

Now, again assuming your lungs are healthy, an oximeter is a useless addition to your CPAP software. If your lungs are healthy and the machine is holding your airway open, your oxygen levels will be OK - you will not have oxygen desats. There is a small cult on here that believes in oximeters and they convinced me to purchase one. After using it for a few weeks, I figured out it is worthless to me since I use the CPAP software and have healthy lungs. My oximeter is languishing longterm in a drawer.

If you ever have any doubt about oximetry, on the next visit ask your doctor for a study. The DMEs provide the equipment and study free of charge.

Thanks for all the information and replies from all of you. Very much appreciated.

When I first got a machine with data, after years of flying blind on CPAP, I was looking at AHI.

From reading a number of posts on this forum I started really looking at the OA index and getting that down first. It stands to reason if you are diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea, getting that number down would be a good place to start. I recall a post that suggested getting it under 1.0... obviously zero would be best.

For me personally, I also look at the duration of the OAs. I would like to see them all under 20 seconds, my own preference, although I still get a few in the 20's and an occasional one in the 30's. This is something I can't really control, but I have noticed that at lower pressures I had some in the 40's and 50's. I have inched up my pressure until I had a tough time breathing and after 2 hours and I woke up and my AHI was 19 over 2 hours, (All CAs), so I backed it down for the rest of the night.

John