ObjectiveTo analyze the the characteristics of pulse oximetry (SpO2) curve changes in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), hypoxic parameters and to explore the difference and connection between obstructive apnea (OA) events and hypopnea (Hyp) events, evaluate the impact of different types of obstructive respiratory events on hypoxia, and provide a theoretical basis for exploration of hypoxic differences in each type of respiratory events and construction of prediction models for respiratory event types in the future. MethodsSixty patients with OSA diagnosed by polysomnography (PSG) were selected for retrospective analysis, and all respiratory events with oxygen drop in the recorded data overnight were divided into OA group (5972) according to the type of events and Hyp group (4110), recorded and scored events were exported from the PSG software as comma-separated variable (.csv) files, which were then imported and analyzed using the in-house built Matlab software. Propensity score matching was performed on the duration of respiratory events and whether they were accompanied by arousal in the two groups, and minimum oxygen saturation of events (e-minSpO2), the depth of desaturation (ΔSpO2), the duration of desaturation and resaturation (DSpO2), the duration of desaturation (d.DSpO2), duration of resaturation (r.DSpO2), duration of SpO2<90% (T90), duration of SpO2<90% during desaturation (d.T90), duration of SpO2<90% during resaturation (r.T90), area under the curve of SpO2<90% (ST90), area under the curve of SpO2<90% during desaturation (d.ST90), area under the curve of SpO2<90% during resaturation (r.ST90), oxygen desaturation rate (ODR) and oxygen resaturation rate (ORR), a total of 13 hypoxic parameters differences. ResultsVarious hypoxic parameters showed that more severe SpO2 desaturation in severe OSA patients, compared with mild and moderate OSA patients (P<0.05); There were statistically significant differences in the respiratory events duration and whether accompanied by arousal between the Hyp group and OA group (P<0.05), and the respiratory events duration and whether accompanied by arousal were significantly correlated with most hypoxic parameters; After accounting for respiratory events duration and whether accompanied by arousal by propensity score matching, compared with the Hyp group, e-minSpO2 was significantly lower in the OA group, ΔSpO2, d.DSpO2, r.DSpO2, ODR, ORR, T90, d.T90, r.T90, ST90, d.ST90, r.ST90 were significantly increased (P<0.05). ConclusionsDue to pathophysiological differences, all hypoxic parameters suggest that OA events will result in a more severe desaturation than Hyp events. Clinical assessment of OSA severity should not equate OA with Hyp events, which may cause more damage to the organism, establishing a basis for applying nocturnal SpO2 to automatically identify the type of respiratory event.