Abstract
PURPOSE: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common breathing disorder during sleep that is associated with symptoms such as snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, and breathing interruptions. Polysomnography (PSG) is the most reliable diagnostic test for OSA; however, its high cost and lengthy testing duration make it difficult to access for many patients. With the availability of free snore applications for home-monitoring, this study aimed to validate the top three ranked snore applications, namely SnoreLab (SL), Anti Snore Solution (ASS), and Sleep Cycle Alarm (SCA), using PSG. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty participants underwent an overnight PSG while simultaneously using three identical smartphones with the tested apps to gather sleep and snoring data. RESULTS: The study discovered that all three applications were significantly correlated with the total recording time and snore counts of PSG, with ASS showing good agreement with snore counts. Furthermore, the Snore Score, Time Snoring of SL, and Sleep Quality of SCA had a significant correlation with the natural logarithm of apnea hypopnea index (lnAHI) of PSG. The Snore Score of SL and the Sleep Quality of SCA were shown to be useful for evaluating snore severity and for pre-diagnosing or predicting OSA above moderate levels. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that some parameters of free snore applications can be employed to monitor OSA progress, and future research could involve adjusted algorithms and larger-scale studies to further authenticate these downloadable snore and sleep applications.