In Home Assessment of Three Anti-Snoring Devices, a Cross Over Study

Silent Night is a solution for primary snorers to guide them to the proper anti-snoring solution. It consists of a mobile application, which had an intake questionnaire, guides users to one of three anti-snoring solutions; a nasal dilator called, Mute (Rhinomed, Australia), a mandibular advancement device called myTAP V (Airway Management, Austin, TX) and a Sleep Positional Trainer SPT (SPT) (NightBalance, Netherlands). The Silent Night app also records snoring through the night and provides feedback to the user via a "snore score."

The objective of this trial is twofold. First, each of the interventions to be studied are known to be effective for snoring cessation. However, each is not fully effective in the total population. Their effectiveness is predicated on how an individual snores and where the snore anatomically originates. I.e. if someone position ally snores because their tongue moves back in their mouth, it is unlikely a nasal dilator will work for that individual. In order to improve the SilentNight recommendation algorithm more information needs to be gathered. By asking a battery of questions of a snorer, and having them trial all three snoring solutions it may be possible to understand the comparative effectiveness of each solution, the user acceptance of each solution and which questions should be used to discern what solution will work best for a given individual.

The second objective is to collect "in the wild" audio of snoring. The goal of this data collection, is to identify unique characteristics in the sound recording. These paired with the answers to the intake questions, and the relative effectiveness of the three anti-snoring solutions could phenotype the snore and snorer. This audio data could also be used to develop or refine a "snore score", a semi-objective assessment of snoring audio.

To accomplish these goals, a feasibility, crossover, in home study will be conducted. Up to 30 couples will be recruited to try each of the anti-snoring solutions over an approximately 5 week period. The participant couples will consist of a snorer and a bed partner. The snorer will use the three solutions (1 week for Mute, 2 weeks for myTAP and SPT) and give feedback on the devices, and sleep quality. The bed partner will also provide feedback on their sleep quality, the loudness of snoring and their perception of the device (as a non-user). They will also record bedroom sound during each night of the trial, including a baseline period where no snoring will take place. Each morning the bed partner will rate the snoring severity.

The primary endpoint will be the daily rating of snoring severity as rated by the bed partner. The daily responses will be averaged on a weekly basis. Due to titration and acclimation during the first 9 nights of use nights 10-14 of myTAP V and SPT use will be compared to the week of Mute use. If formal statistical comparisons are performed, continuous data will be compared between the three therapies using repeated-measures ANOVA or the non-parametric Friedman Test, depending on the distributions of the endpoints. If an overall significant effect is observed, post-hoc pairwise tests will be done with a suitable adjustment for multiple comparisons. Categorical data will be compared between therapies using the Cochran's Q test.

Inclusion criteria

(Snorer):

• Adults aged 21 to 55
• Able and willing to provide written informed consent
• Able to read and understand English
• History of snoring for more than 6 months (by self-report).
• Sleep with a bed partner for at least 4 nights per week (by self-report).
• Told by bed partner that snoring frequently disturbs his or her sleep (by self-report).
• Have seen a dentist within 12 months (by self-report).
• Willing to not use any anti-snoring aids that are not associated with the study (by self-report).
• Has purchased or used or bed partner has purchased an anti-snoring product in the past (by self-report) [These individuals may be included in the study if recruitment timeline dictates it]

Exclusion criteria

(Snorer):

• Scored higher than a 9 on the Modified Snore Scale Score (MSSS>9)
• Scored higher than a 6 on the OSA 50 screener (OSA50>6)
• The presence of physical or mental limitations that would limit the ability to use the anti-snoring solutions.
• Any unstable medical condition like congestive heart failure, neuromuscular disease, renal failure, or cancer (as determined by self-report and reviewed by the study PI).
• Any severe respiratory condition (like an exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, bronchitis, sinusitis, respiratory failure or insufficiency or patients requiring oxygen therapy).
• Known history of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) or Central Sleep Apnea Syndrome (by self-report)
• Only able to sleep in the supine (flat on one's back) position (by self-report).
• Actively suffering from an upper respiratory infection (by self-report).
• Have a planned medical or dental procedure involving the head, neck, face (eyes, ears, nose, teeth, mouth), or lungs during the trial period (by self-report).
• Under active treatment for an active dental problem by a dentist or orthodontist
• Have one or more of the following dental issues (by self-report)

• Removable dentures or bridges.
• Temporary crowns, loose teeth, loose crowns, loose fillings, or broken teeth
• Less than 8 natural, healthy teeth in each dental arch (upper and lower teeth)
• Dental braces
• TemporoMandibular Joint (TMJ) issues

Inclusion criteria

(Bed Partner):

• Adults aged 21 to 70
• Able and willing to provide written informed consent
• Able to read and understand English
• Rates sleep disturbance caused by partner's snoring greater than or equal to 4 on a scale of 1-10
• Rates level of snoring volume greater than or equal to 7 on a scale of 1-10
• Willing to sleep in same room as snorer during the study period (by self -report).
• Willing to not start any new over-the-counter or prescription sleep medication including sedatives and hypnotics during the study period (by self-report).

Exclusion criteria

(Bed Partner):

• Told by bed partner that their snoring frequently disturbs his or her sleep (by self-report).