Normal Oxyhemoglobin Saturation During Sleep

How Low Does It Go?

¹ From the Division of Pediatric Pulmonology and Sleep Disorders Center, Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland

Study objective: To determine oxyhemoglobin saturation (O₂ Sat) in healthy humans.

Design: Retrospective review of all-night pulse oximetry data, carefully examined to exclude periods of motion artifact. The lowest saturation recorded during the night (Low Sat), the median saturation (Sat 50), and the saturation below which the patient spent 10% of the time (Sat 10) were tabulated. These data were compared to the O₂ Sat in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and patients with stable asthma.

Setting: Sleep laboratory in a tertiary care hospital.

Patients: Three hundred fifty people with normal results of overnight polysomnography. Patients with known craniofacial or neurologic abnormalities or any previously diagnosed pulmonary disease such as asthma or COPD were excluded. The healthy subjects ranged in age from 1 month to 85 years. There were 184 male and 166 female subjects. These were compared to 25 patients with OSA and 21 patients with asthma.

Results: For the healthy patients, the mean±SD Low Sat was 90.4%±3.1%. The mean Sat 10 was 94.7%±1.6%. The mean Sat 50 was 96.5%±1.5%. There was no relationship between any of the O₂ Sat measures and sex, race, or obesity as measured by body mass index. However, older subjects (>60 years of age) had lower Sat 10 (92.8±2.3) and Sat 50 (95.1±2.0) than did younger subjects. The O₂ Sat of the patients with asthma was not different from the healthy subjects, but the patients with OSA had a significantly lower Sat 50, Sat 10, and Low Sat.

Summary: We describe in detail O₂ Sat in a large group of healthy people. Older subjects without known cardiorespiratory disease have lower O₂ Sat than younger subjects.

Key Words: asthma • normal values • obstructive sleep apnea • oxyhemoglobin saturation • polysomnography • pulse oximeter • sleep

Submitted on February 2, 1996
Accepted on July 22, 2007

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