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Very confused - My Air AHI shows significantly higher numbers than Sleephead.

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tmrl +0 points · about 6 years ago Original Poster

Hello, This is my first time in this forum, and just started using SleepyHead today. I am shocked that the AHI readings I got from Sleepy Head (SH) are significantly lower than the ones I got from My Air ( MA ). Am I comparing apple to apple, or Is it something wrong with my data or my SD card ? Here are my AHI readings for the past 7 days :

Mar 7 : SH 2.1; MA 11.3; Mar 6 : 1.18 vs 8.8 ; Mar 5 : 1.53 vs 10.7 ; Mar 4 : 1.28 vs 11.3 ; Mar 3 : 4.7 vs 12.1 ; Mar 2 : 3.21 vs 19.6; Mar 1 : 0.74 vs 6.4

Machine Information and Changes to Prescription settings are correct.

In March 2017, My sleep Study showed severe apnea with AHI of 77.2 per hour. I have been using the Resmed Airsense 10 Autoset ( Full face mask ) since April 2017. My Resmed Airview Compliance Report for the period of 10/24/2017 - 01/11/2018 showed AHI of 11.3, and thus I went to see my sleep doctor again a couple weeks ago. The sleepyhead AHI average for those 3 months showed below 2. I am totally confused !!! Shall I use a different software to take a look ? Pls help ! Thank you so much !

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jnk +0 points · about 6 years ago

Welcome! And thanks for such an interesting question!

Your specific question is over my head, since I am not especially experienced at comparing reports from different sources based on the same data. So yours is the sort of question that I would probably ask someone like Pugsy over at cpaptalk.com.

However, in a general way, it is important to understand that the data given to us in reports from home-treatment machines are only really meant to be used as trending data so that we can get the numbers as low as possible over time. Although very useful, the information is never quite as definitive as PSG data. Each manufacturer and software writer uses slightly different definitions and ways of reporting trending data. It is sort of a proprietary legal thing, it seems. Some manufacturers and software writers prefer to keep the reported number low so as not to cause panic in patients. Others prefer to make the trending data as useful as possible by keeping the reported number high, so that even very small changes in treatment efficacy can be tracked easily to get treatment as optimized as possible. This is especially true for what internal-algorithm definitions are used for reporting hypopneas. This is less true for what internal definitions are used for apneas, since manufacturers tend to use similar flow-based definitions for those more-significant events. And that is why a number of home-treatment-pressure self-tweakers focus more on the apnea index (AI) given by home machines and less on apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), in the context of home machine data.

I am reminded of the old saying that a man with one watch always knows exactly what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure.

I apologize if all of the above sounds like mumbo jumbo. Someone more knowledgeable and experienced in understanding the specific differences in home-treatment-machine reports may be able to explain that better in a more practical way to you for what you are observing.

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