Sleeping in an Inclined Position to Reduce Snoring and Improve Sleep: In-home Product Intervention Study

BACKGROUND: Accurately and unobtrusively testing the effects of snoring and sleep interventions at home has become possible with recent advances in digital measurement technologies. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of using an adjustable bed base to sleep with the upper body in an inclined position to reduce snoring and improve sleep, measured at home using commercially available trackers. METHODS: Self-reported snorers (N=25) monitored their snoring and sleep nightly and completed questionnaires daily for 8 weeks. They slept flat for the first 4 weeks, then used an adjustable bed base to sleep with the upper body at a 12-degree incline for the next 4 weeks. RESULTS: Over 1000 nights of data were analyzed. Objective snoring data showed a 7% relative reduction in snoring duration (P=.001) in the inclined position. Objective sleep data showed 4% fewer awakenings (P=.04) and a 5% increase in the proportion of time spent in deep sleep (P=.02) in the inclined position. Consistent with these objective findings, snoring and sleep measured by self-report improved. CONCLUSIONS: New measurement technologies allow intervention studies to be conducted in the comfort of research participants’ own bedrooms. This study showed that sleeping at an incline has potential as a nonobtrusive means of reducing snoring and improving sleep in a nonclinical snoring population.