Measuring Snoring with the Snore Lab App

The Japanese team of Back2Sleep (Nastent in Japan) is measuring snoring using the “Snore Lab” app.

In a previous report, a member of the Japanese team resumed using the “Snore Lab” snoring app and decided to record their snoring daily. The team posted progress updates in the form of weekly updates initially, transitioning to monthly updates as the data stabilized.

The team is analyzing how factors that might affect snoring influence the SnoreLab snoring score (a score of loudness and frequency of snoring) as they gather sleep data.

The factors being analyzed include:

Length of sleep
Exercise (walking)
Alcohol consumption

The team is also reviewing snoring products.

Once they have gathered baseline sleep data, they will review Nastent and other snoring products in a separate article.

Currently, the team has purchased and tested the following:

Nastent
Anti-snoring rings
Mouthpiece for tongue

Future tests will include non-medical mouthpieces, regular masks, anti-snoring masks, nasal dilation tape, and nasal gargling.

The team will use the snoring score measured by Snore Lab to compare snoring before and after using these products.

*This experiment is not intended to promote any specific product. It aims to clarify how factors that may affect sleep (such as alcohol consumption, exercise, and sleep duration) influence snoring scores through long-term snoring measurements. It is important to note that the sample size is one, making this an observational blog rather than a clinical trial.

Review of “Snore Lab”

Snore Lab is an application used to measure snoring. In Japan, data from snoring apps like Snore Lab are used as a reference by medical professionals, including those at snoring outpatient clinics. The app is recognized in the medical industry.

More details about the app can be found on its website.

The average snoring score for new users of the app is 25.

Data and Analysis

Week 1: January 14-20 (7 days) Data

The maximum and minimum snoring scores during this period were 56 and 18, respectively, on days without alcohol consumption or any snoring interventions. The average snoring score was 35.7.

The team provided data for the quietest and worst snoring days.

The team observed a periodic increase in snoring and loud snoring at the beginning of the night. The considerable range in snoring scores was surprising. Initial thoughts were that alcohol consumption would worsen the data, but this wasn't definitively the case, although there seemed to be a tendency for it to worsen with alcohol.

With limited data, the team planned to gather more data for further analysis.

Week 2: January 21-27 (7 days) Data

The maximum snoring score during this period was 36, and the minimum was 19. The average snoring score was 29.6.

The team planned to publish a comparison of days with and without Nastent use when more data was available.

This week's report includes data for days with good scores using Nastent and days with loud snoring while falling asleep.

The left image shows a day with Nastent use, where loud snoring is absent. The right image shows a day without Nastent use, with loud snoring occurring while falling asleep.

Week 3: January 28 - February 2 (7 days) Data

The maximum snoring score for this period was 58, and the minimum was 14. This week showed considerable variability, with updates to both the minimum and maximum scores. (The previous maximum was 56, and the minimum was 18).

(Note: The scores were significantly more erratic when sleep time was less than 4 hours, and this maximum score was excluded after statistical processing.)

Both the minimum and maximum scores occurred on days when Nastent was used. The team was surprised to record a score above 40 despite using Nastent, the worst score recorded, including days without Nastent. However, further review revealed that sleep duration was only about 3 hours that day. While not conclusive, shorter sleep appears to correlate with worse scores. The team planned to summarize this observation the following week.

The average snoring score was 27.4, a further improvement from the previous week.

The team provided data for the days with the largest and smallest scores, both of which occurred when using Nastent.

The left image shows the day with the least amount of sleep, where the score likely worsened due to the relatively high percentage of time spent snoring. The right image shows the day with the best score to date, with very few instances of loud snoring, likely due to Nastent use.

Week 4: February 3 - February 9 (7 days) Data

The maximum snoring score during this week was 48, and the minimum was 18. The average snoring score was 30.0, slightly worse than the previous week.

This increase is likely attributed to alcohol consumption on four days.

The team provided data for the days with alcohol consumption and loud snoring. Snoring appeared to be worse when falling asleep.

Weeks 5-12: February 10 - March 29 (56 days) Data

During this period, the maximum snoring score was 68, and the minimum was 12. The average snoring score was 30.7.

The team notes that the average of the snoring scores seems to converge around this value. However, the scores varied considerably, from a minimum of 12 to a maximum of 68.

The team provided details on the days with the minimum and maximum scores. The days with the minimum score were relatively quiet, with no specific measures taken except before falling asleep or upon waking up. On the day with the maximum score, the snoring was loud (while wearing an anti-snoring ring).

Analysis 1: Does Alcohol Consumption Affect Snoring Scores?

The team analyzed the collected data to examine the difference in snoring scores with and without alcohol consumption. In both cases, data was compared when Nastent was not in use to avoid influencing the scores.

With alcohol: 41.7
Without alcohol: 34.8

As expected, the snoring score is higher when drinking alcohol.

The minimum and maximum scores were also compared:

With alcohol: minimum 32, maximum 51
Without alcohol: minimum 18, maximum 56

When drinking alcohol, the minimum score was 32. The higher maximum value of 56 when not drinking alcohol suggests that another factor may worsen the snoring score.

Analysis 2: Does Sleep Duration Affect Snoring Scores?

The second question analyzed is whether sleep duration affects snoring scores.

For analysis purposes, the team divided the results into two groups: those who slept more than 6 hours and those who slept less than 6 hours. Again, data was compared when Nastent was not used.

Less than 6 hours of sleep: 41.3
More than 6 hours of sleep: 36.3

The snoring score is higher when sleep duration is shorter, although the difference is not as significant as with alcohol consumption.

The minimum and maximum scores were also compared:

Less than 6 hours of sleep: minimum 22, maximum 56
More than 6 hours of sleep: minimum 18, maximum 51

The minimum and maximum snoring scores are slightly lower for those with longer sleep durations.

The team notes that the shorter the sleep time, the higher the snore score. However, this may be related to Snore Lab's score calculation logic. Snoring tends to be slightly more intense in the early stages of sleep. Therefore, shorter sleep durations may result in relatively worse (louder) snoring scores due to fewer hours of lighter snoring. The team plans to analyze this further.

Results of Crosstabulation of Alcohol Consumption x Sleep Duration

The crosstabulated results for alcohol consumption and sleep duration are also presented.

Alcohol consumption x Sleep time less than 6 hours: No data
With alcohol x 6 hours of sleep or more: 41.7
No alcohol x less than 6 hours of sleep: 41.3
Without alcohol x more than 6 hours of sleep: 28.3

As expected, the snoring score is lowest (best) when sleeping more than 6 hours without alcohol consumption. The scores are notably different between drinking and not drinking when compared with sleep times of 6 hours or more, with higher scores (worse snoring) when drinking alcohol.

These results are consistent with expectations but are more clearly demonstrated with numerical data.

Variability in Snoring Scores

After approximately three months of data collection, the team observed significant variability in snoring scores. While there is a slight trend related to alcohol consumption and sleep duration, the snoring scores appear to fluctuate randomly.

One factor that seemed to contribute to this variability was the phone's installation environment. The phone's position relative to the sleeper changes throughout the night due to movement during sleep, even when the phone is placed in the same location.

For reference, a scatter plot of sleep time versus snore score is shown below: