Incidence and Remission of Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Related Symptoms in 6- to 17-Year Old Children—The Tucson Children's Assessment of Sleep Apnea Study

Abstract

Objective To determine the incidence and remission of sleep disordered breathing in adolescent children.

Study design 319 children completed two home polysomnograms approximately 5 years apart. Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) was determined to be present if a child had a respiratory disturbance index ≥ 1 event per hour associated with a ≥3% oxygen desaturation. Subjective symptoms such as witnessed apnea, excessive daytime sleepiness, difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep, and habitual loud snoring were considered present if they occurred frequently or almost always. BMI percentiles were calculated using CDC childhood growth charts adjusted for sex and age.

Results The mean age at assessment was 8.5 years at Baseline and 13.7 years at Follow-up respectively. Incident SDB was more common in boys (OR=3.93, p=.008, CI= 1.41-10.90). Children with Prevalent SDB were more likely to be boys (OR=2.48, p=.006) and had a greater increase in BMI percentile change (OR 1.01, p=.034). Children with Prevalent SDB also had 3.41 greater odds of developing obesity from Baseline to Follow-up in comparison with children with Prevalent NoSDB.

Conclusions Adolescent boys are more likely to have persistent and incident SDB than girls. Children with prevalent SDB are more likely to have developed obesity. These risks are similar to those observed in adults.