The annoyance of snoring
Alfred Dreher1, Tobias Rader, Martin Patscheider
1ENT Department, Klinikum Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Marchioninistr. 15, 81377 Munich, Germany. dreher@ithnet.com
Summary
Listener sensitivity significantly impacts snoring annoyance ratings. The perceived annoyance of snoring is influenced by individual noise sensitivity as much as the snoring sound itself.
Area of Science:
- Sleep Medicine
- Auditory Perception
Background:
- Snoring is a common symptom associated with sleep disorders.
- Objective measurement of snoring intensity and its subjective impact is challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether listener sensitivity or snoring sound characteristics are more influential in perceived snoring annoyance.
- To quantify the contribution of both factors to snoring annoyance.
Main Methods:
- An automated hearing experiment presented 550 snoring sounds recorded during polysomnography to ten examiners.
- Examiners rated the annoyance of each snoring sound on a scale of 0-100.
- Covariance parameters were calculated using the restricted maximum likelihood method.
Main Results:
- The average annoyance score was 63.9 (±23.0), with a range from 49.2 (±28.0) for acceptable to 77.7 (±16.4) for annoying snore sounds.
- Covariance analysis revealed that listener (rater) factors accounted for 28.7% of the variance in annoyance.
- Snoring sound characteristics accounted for 22.3% of the variance.
Conclusions:
- Listener noise sensitivity is a critical factor in determining snoring annoyance, comparable in importance to the snoring sound itself.
- Subjective annoyance ratings of snoring are highly dependent on individual listener perception.
- Future research should consider listener variability when assessing snoring impact.
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