Altitude Tents and SAO2

[Orange Fish]

Does anyone have experience with O2 Sat and altitude tents? I have an athlete I'm working with who is sleeping in a tent and monitoring SAO2...he asked if there is a specific range to keep it in.

I know that normal SAO2 is in the 90%+ range (usually 96-98%) and can decrease at maximal exercise and initially upon arriving at altitude, but does that play a major role when sleeping at a particular simulated altitude for a few weeks? Does it play more of a role at higher altitudes?

 

[discobean7]

In a normal healthy athlete I would expect O2 sats to be 98-100% at rest. I'm sure how helpful monitoring sats will be in an altitude tent since the body's compensatory mechanisms are adequate through about 10,000 feet (can maintain 90-95% sat while awake). Sats tend to be lower when asleep due to periodic breathing. Just some numbers I found for people living at 5400 feet - 95.1% (93.0-97.0). And for acute exposure to altitude:
9200 feet - 91.0% (86.6-95.2)
12000 feet - 84.5% (80.5-89.0)
15440 feet - 78.0% (70.8-85.0)
17500 feet - 76.2% (65.4-81.6)
20140 feet - 65.6% (55.5-73.0)

 

[acoggan]

Does anyone have experience with O2 Sat and altitude tents?

Yes.

 

[Orange Fish]

Yes.

Hmmm...
care to contribute?