Snoring may be linked to culture

The estimates of the incidence of snoring in adults that have been provided by four epidemiological studies vary from 16–89% of the population. Collectively, these data are completely confounded by country of origin and thus may reflect cultural differences that contribute to snoring. While the etiology of snoring is not fully known, speculation has focused on gender and age as primary factors that contribute to this behavior. Within the limitations imposed by the designs of these four studies, we compared the relative strength of the relationships between snoring and gender, age, and culture. These analyses suggest that certain variables associated with cultures appear to be more salient than both gender and age, as determinants of snoring.