What is Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a condition in which your breathing stops and restarts many times while you sleep. This can prevent your body from getting enough oxygen. These breathing disturbances are fairly common, and people typically experience a few disturbances a night.
Despite advances in public awareness about the importance of sleep, most cases of sleep apnea remain undiagnosed.
The health implications of sleep apnea are most significant for those with moderate to severe sleep apnea, defined by an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). An AHI of 15 or more may indicate moderate sleep apnea, while 30 or more may indicate severe sleep apnea. This index is a measure of the average number of apnea or hypopnea events per hour over a recording interval.
The prevalence of moderate to severe sleep apnea is estimated at approximately 10% of the global adult population.
Research also suggests that up to 80% of sleep apnea cases remain undiagnosed.
Users can measure breathing disturbances during sleep tracking with their Apple Watch to better understand interruptions in their respiratory patterns. Your Apple Watch uses the accelerometer to look for breathing disturbances while you sleep.
Using AutoSleep to Track Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea requires an Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later. Your region settings may also need approval.
You will be prompted to approve the health permission on update, if not follow the below steps:
On your iPhone, open the Health app
Tap the Profile icon top right corner, then tap Apps and AutoSleep
Make sure all permissions are on including "breathing disturbances"
Track Sleep with Watch - Open the Watch app on your iPhone (it looks like a black icon of a Watch). Scroll down and tap on 'Sleep'. Make sure that 'Track Sleep with Apple Watch' is turned on (see below):
A Sleep Apnea tile will appear on the Today tab in AutoSleep, provided you have the correct Watch series and the health permissions on
Sleep Apnea Gauge
Viewing the gauge, the white needle shows the amount of breathing disturbances per hour during sleep.
Disturbances = breathing disturbances per hour last night
Level is the level of disturbance = Normal, Mild, Moderate, Severe
If the white needed is in the:
The green shade indicates that your breathing disturbances are equal to or less then 5 per hour. This is normal breathing disturbances.
The orange shade indicates your breathing disturbances are between 5 and 15 disturbances per hour. This is mild breathing disturbances.
The top red shade section indicate your breathing disturbances are between 15 and 30 disturbances per hour. Frequent results in this section may indicate moderate sleep apnea.
The far right red shade section indicate your breathing disturbances are greater than 30 disturbances per hour. Frequent results in this section may indicate severe sleep apnea.
The outer inlay (a blue shade in the outer ring) represents your 28 day averages, with a black mark showing the 28 day average, and the range showing the 28 day minimum and maximum values.
Tip: AutoSleep will require you sleep for a minimum of 10 days over a 30 day evaluation period to show the level of sleep apnea, this follows the Apple guidelines.
Sleep Apnea Trends
Using the 'Show Trends' link will open the graph view. Tap and slide your finger on the graph to view historical data.
Baseline is the trailing 28 days average disturbances.
Prognosis uses trend data and follows the Apple guidelines on indicating the likelihood of sleep apnea. The algorithm consists of the following:
It will analyse the breathing disturbance data every 28 days
When at least 10 sleep recordings (not required to be sequential) with breathing disturbances values occur within a given 28-day period, the prognosis checks if at least 50% of these values are elevated in the moderate or severe range.
If the trend data is elevated over the required period, the prognosis will indicate possible sleep apnea to the user; otherwise, it will show that sleep apnea is unlikely.
The prognosis will report "not enough data" if there are fewer than 10 nights with a breathing disturbances value in a 28-day window, as the data is insufficient for analysis.
Sleep Apnea Notifications
Apple has a default notification service you can also use. If looking to use the Apple notification:
Open the Health app on your iPhone
Tap the Browse tab, then tap Respiratory
Under Sleep Apnoea Notifications, tap Set Up, then tap Next
Confirm your Date of Birth and if you've ever been diagnosed with sleep apnoea, then tap Continue
Tap Next, then tap Done
Turn on Sleep Focus
At bedtime, we recommend your Watch is in Sleep Focus mode to capture breathing disturbances data. Swipe up on your Watch face to open the Control Centre, tap on the half moon icon to open the Focus/Do Not Disturb options. Tap on Sleep to enable the Sleep Focus mode, the half moon icon will change to a bed icon. This will turn off the Watch display and put it into a Do Not Disturb mode (see below).
Sleep Apnea has been designed to work perfectly with Siri, with a shortcut called "show my breathing disturbances". The shortcuts dictionary includes:
Disturbances = breathing disturbances per hour last night
Level is the level of disturbance. Normal, Mild, Moderate, Severe
Baseline is the trailing 28 days average disturbances.
Variance is the difference between last night & 28 day average
Low is the lowest reading in the last 28 days.
High is the highest reading in the last 28 days.
Refer to the Siri page for more information.
Sleep Apnea has been built into a widget that you can setup on your iPhone. Refer to the Widgets page for more information.
