As per the study, women were less likely to report snoring issue. (Source: File Photo)It is not only men, even women snore. However, they are more likely to under report their snoring problem in comparison to men, a new study suggests. According to the study, which has been published in Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, ‘social stigma’ prevented women from reporting the issue which leads to under-diagnosis or misdiagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea, a serious sleep disorder.
Notably, snoring is a common warning sign for obstructive sleep apnea which involves the repeated collapse of the upper airway during sleep.
The researchers included 1,913 participants for sleep evaluation for the study which revealed that objectively measured snoring was found in 88 per cent of the women (591 of 675), but only 72 per cent reported that they snore (496 of 675). Whereas in men, objective snoring (92.6 per cent) and self-reported snoring (93.1 per cent) were similar.
“We found that although no difference in snoring intensity was found between genders, women tend to under-report the fact that they snore and to underestimate the loudness of their snoring,” said Nimrod Maimon, professor at Soroka University Medical Center in Israel. He also noted, “women reported snoring less often and described it as milder.”
According to the study, women snored as loud as men with 49 per cent of them having severe or very severe snoring (329 of 675). But only 40 per cent of the women rated their snoring as severe (269 of 675).
“The fact that women reported snoring less often and described it as milder may be one of the barriers preventing women from reaching sleep clinics for a sleep study,” Maimon said. As per the researchers, women suffering from sleep apnea were also less likely to report symptoms including daytime fatigue.
