We know that snoring and sleep apnea may contribute to reduced quality of sleep, for you or your partner, but how to quantify this? Here’s a potted version of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, a test often used to help measure a patient’s sleepiness during the daytime. It simply gets the patient to pick a number to describe their chance of sleeping in each particular scenario.
Sleepiness Scale test
Here’s the numbers:
0 — no chance
1 — slight chance
2 — moderate chance
3 — high chance
And here’s the scenarios:
Sitting and reading ____
Watching TV ____
Sitting inactive in a public place ____
Being a passenger in a car for an hour or more ____
Lying down in the afternoon ____
Sitting and talking to someone ____
Sitting quietly after lunch (no alcohol) ____
Stopped for a few minutes in traffic while driving ____
Total (add the scores) ____
The standard advice once you’ve got your score, is that if it is over ten then you need to be thinking about seeing a sleep disorder specialist.
This test is also a good way to make someone acknowledge that they have a problem! As I’m sure many of you know, the hardest thing about sleep disorders like snoring or sleep apnea is that they occur when the sufferer isn’t conscious. It’s often down to partners to notice these problems and suggest that the sufferer seeks help. I am, of course, using a rather narrow definition of ‘sufferer’ here, as many long-suffering partners can attest- it’s not just the snorer who suffers!
More seriously, if you think someone’s snoring is causing a problem with their sleep, this will tend to manifest in their daily life. If someone’s constantly feeling tired during the day, this is a fairly good sign that their snoring problem may be a sign of something a little more serious. Some partners can be a little to bring this up, too. No-one wants to sound like a nag, or a complainer, and it’s not uncommon for a partner to stay quiet to avoid hurting their loved one’s feelings.
Sometimes, though, concern for someone’s health should win out over politeness. If you think your partner has a problem, then the truly loving thing to do is to point it out, and to help them find a way to address it.
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