Adam’s Journal

I guess it’s no surprise that we have health-curious coworkers at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. Here’s the latest question from an inquisitive colleague:

My husband snores so loudly at night sometimes that it keeps me awake. A lot of my friends say the same thing about their husbands. Do men tend to snore more than women – or does it just seem that way?

Casey Arnold

Dr. Scofield Prescribes

Your perception is correct: Men do snore more than women.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine reports that about 40% of adult men are habitual snorers, while adult women habitually snore at just over half that rate – about 24%. A 2022 review article in the sleep-medicine literature cites similar figures.

An analysis of 63 different research studies on snoring found a consistent male predominance in snoring. In particular, it found this sex disparity was most pronounced in younger adulthood. To understand why, let’s look at what causes snoring.

Snoring occurs when airways vibrate or collapse during sleep. Most often, this happens when structures in the upper airway – between your voice box and your nose and mouth – vibrate.

The area most often involved is the space between the soft palate and tongue, which narrows and becomes floppy during sleep. This happens more frequently in men because they tend to have larger neck circumferences, more fat around the neck and upper body, and longer airways.

In addition, the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone appear to help maintain airway muscle tone, reducing its tendency to collapse.

However, after menopause, these hormone levels decline. As a result, snoring – and its more disruptive and dangerous cousin, obstructive sleep apnea – becomes more common in women, and the sex gap narrows.

Across age groups, men are diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea two to three times more frequently than women. The same factors that increase the risk for snoring also increase the chances of obstructive sleep apnea.

Some researchers have noted that women – perhaps out of embarrassment – are less likely to report snoring to healthcare providers than men. So, statistics may underreport the levels of snoring in females.

Still, when researchers objectively record snoring during sleep studies, they find that men snore more frequently and loudly. And that, I suspect, is not a surprise to you or your friends.

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Dr. Hal Scofield is a physician-scientist at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, and he also serves as Associate Chief of Staff for Research at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center. Adam Cohen is OMRF’s senior vice president and general counsel. Send your health questions to contact@omrf.org.