Habitual snoring is associated with an increased prevalence of hypertension, stroke, and ischemic heart disease. To determine factors that influence the incidence and remission of habitual snoring, we analyzed responses to successive self-administered questionnaires with questions pertaining to snoring in a group of subjects participating in the Tucson Epidemiologic Study of Obstructive Airways Disease. In this study, 1,476 subjects were surveyed 5.8 +/- 0.6 (SD) years apart. Among subjects who habitually snored on the initial survey, 58.2% snored persistently and 35.5% remitted on the ensuing survey. Among subjects who did not habitually snore in the initial survey, 10.5% developed it on the subsequent survey. In further analyses, we found that male sex, obesity, and respiratory symptoms were significant independent risk factors for development of habitual snoring. Age over 65 years, the absence of obesity, and the absence of respiratory symptoms were associated with remission of habitual snoring.