Singing Exercises to Improve Symptoms of Snoring and Sleep Apnea

A Single Blinded Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial to Investigate Whether Singing Exercises Can Improve Symptoms of Snoring and Sleep Apnea

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01322334

Enrollment

127

Registered

2011-03-24

Start date

2005-11-30

Completion date

2007-11-30

Last updated

2011-03-24

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Snoring, Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome

Keywords

Snoring, Sleep apnea, Pharyngeal muscle tone

Brief summary

Upper airway resistance during sleep can present with a range of symptoms from simple snoring (SS) through to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Pharyngeal narrowing or collapse leads to reduction or cessation in airflow during sleep, and is associated with loud snoring. The investigators hypothesized that regular singing exercises could strengthen pharyngeal muscles and/or increase their resting tone, and lead to an improvement of symptoms and thus quality of life in patients with all forms of snoring.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALSinging exercises

A 3 month self-guided treatment based on a specially designed 3CD box set, which patient performed every day ('Singing for Snorers': UK)

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE (Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* age 18 years old or over * history of simple snoring or sleep apnoea with RDI 10-40

Exclusion criteria

* severe sleep apnoea RDI \>40 * morbid obesity BMI \> 40 * unable to provide written informed consent

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Epworth sleepiness scale	Entry to study (day one), and after 3 months of intervention

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Loudness of snoring	Entry to study (day one), and 3 months after intervention	Visual analogue scale rating
Frequency of snoring	Entry to study (day one), and 3 months after intervention	Visual analogue scale rating
SF-36 quality of life assessment tool	Entry to study (day one), and 3 months after intervention	—
Compliance with exercises	After 3 months of intervention	Applied only to intervention group. Rated on visual analogue scale of 100mm from 'never' to 'every day'

Countries

United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026