[Diagnosis] How do I interpret my data recorded on my Resmed S9?

[SamWong2012]

I am new to using CPAP and to the apneaboard forum, I downloaded ResScan software and generated my first report, but I have problem interpreting the report.
1. I don't understand why when the leak is higher, the AHI is lower. It should be just the opposite, am I right?
2. The snore Index is high when my AHI and events are lower. It should be just the opposite, am I right?
3. In the "Events" graph, I interpret each vertical bar as an event. What are numbers on top of the vertical bars?
4. Based on the attached data (summary graphs of 2.5 months, and detailed graphs of 2 days), is my CPAP treatment effective? If not, what should I do to get optimal treatment?
5. To interpret future data, which of the data items are the key factors to tell if my CPAP treatment is effective?
I appreciate some feedback.
Thanks

[CHanlon]

1 - Not necessarily - if the leak is above a certain level, everything else it reports is going to be screwy. For an S9 I think that's about 24L.

2 - A snore is an obstruction to the airway, but not necessarily an apnea, or at the very least, not long enough to read as one, so it doesn't get counted. Once you're at a pressure that you're doing well with, you should notice less snoring, too.

3 - You're right, those are events. The number in the box is the number of seconds for that event.

4 - Sorry, for some reason I couldn't see the graphs.

5 - The really key factors are AHI - it should be less then 5 - and... well... how you feel. :-) You should start feeling more rested, more aware, etc, if treatment is working.

There's a lot of other data shown in those reports, and that can be used to do some fine tuning - like if you find you're still snoring, touch up the bottom end of your pressure range a bit, perhaps from 8 to 9. It takes the machine a bit of time to detect and react to events, so sometimes it works to reduce the time it takes to get your to your median or 95th % pressure.

Those are other things you can learn from - the high/median/95th pressure values. If you find that you're always running between 12 and 16, you can *gradually* move your range settings closer to those values. Disclaimer - talk to your dr first. :-)

[SamWong2012]

1 - Not necessarily - if the leak is above a certain level, everything else it reports is going to be screwy. For an S9 I think that's about 24L.

2 - A snore is an obstruction to the airway, but not necessarily an apnea, or at the very least, not long enough to read as one, so it doesn't get counted. Once you're at a pressure that you're doing well with, you should notice less snoring, too.

3 - You're right, those are events. The number in the box is the number of seconds for that event.

4 - Sorry, for some reason I couldn't see the graphs.

5 - The really key factors are AHI - it should be less then 5 - and... well... how you feel. :-) You should start feeling more rested, more aware, etc, if treatment is working.

There's a lot of other data shown in those reports, and that can be used to do some fine tuning - like if you find you're still snoring, touch up the bottom end of your pressure range a bit, perhaps from 8 to 9. It takes the machine a bit of time to detect and react to events, so sometimes it works to reduce the time it takes to get your to your median or 95th % pressure.

Those are other things you can learn from - the high/median/95th pressure values. If you find that you're always running between 12 and 16, you can *gradually* move your range settings closer to those values. Disclaimer - talk to your dr first. :-)

Thanks very much for the quick reply, the reason why you don't see data is that data is not attached correctly because my data is about 540KB, just a little over the 512KB limit, how do I attach a PDF file of 540KB?

[PaulaO2]

You can't. Can you break it down into smaller files? Like two instead of one?

If you have you own website, you can upload it to there then provide the link to it. As long as your website is not commercial, of course.

[zonk]

Hi Sam
How high is the leak, I would think leak is OK as long as Mr Green (happy face) shows up in the mask fit of sleep quality report.
We tend to put too much emphasis on AHI
imo there are other important factors to consider like how many hours you sleep with the mask and do you feel

[SamWong2012]

You can't. Can you break it down into smaller files? Like two instead of one?

If you have you own website, you can upload it to there then provide the link to it. As long as your website is not commercial, of course.

I uploaded my data report to my skydrive, and tried to post it. The thread comes back with an error message:

You cannot post clickable links to this forum threads and posts.

Please advice

[PaulaO2]

Then skydrive must be a commercial site. Commercial links of any kind are not allowed here.

[PaulaO2]

In addition, at your level of membership, you can't post links at all. Sorry I gave you wrong advice to upload somewhere first. My bad. No cookie.

So, keep being involved! The more participating members, the better!

[SuperSleeper]

You cannot post clickable links to this forum threads and posts.
Please advice

Hi Sam, Paula is right, as part of our spam-prevention, brand new members can't post links in the forums. I can't reverse that, but what I can do, if you want, email me the link and I'll post it for you here in this thread.

My email is apneaboard@gmail.com

Hope that will help.

[SamWong2012]

You cannot post clickable links to this forum threads and posts.
Please advice

Hi Sam, Paula is right, as part of our spam-prevention, brand new members can't post links in the forums. I can't reverse that, but what I can do, if you want, email me the link and I'll post it for you here in this thread.

My email is apneaboard@gmail.com

Hope that will help.

Thanks to everyone who replied. I've learnt a lot since I joint this forum. I've sent the link to SuperSleeper.