Neurobehavioral Consequences of Sleep Apnea in Children

To identify physiological and clinical measures of obstructive sleep-disordered breathing that are associated with increased morbidity in children.

BACKGROUND: The study is in response to a Request for Applications (RFA) on Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children. NHLBI issued the RFA in December, 1997, with co-sponsorship from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. DESIGN NARRATIVE: This cross-sectional study recruited a population-based sample of young children from among the more than 8000 children in Massachusetts enrolled in the on-going Infant Care Practices Study. Stratified sampling was used to assemble a cohort of 250 children with habitual snoring (> 3 nights/week), 100 children with occasional snoring (<3 nights/week), and 100 non-snoring children. These children were studied within 3 months of their fourth birthday using overnight laboratory polysomnography and a detailed neurobehavioral evaluation, in order to test the hypothesis that, after adjusting for potential confounding variables, both parent-reported snoring and polysomnographic measures were associated with standardized measures of the following neurobehavioral domains: immediate attention, sustained attention, working memory, and symptoms of hyperactivity. These data also provided an opportunity to determine normal values for polysomnographic measures in 4-year-old children and to determine the prevalence of snoring and polysomnographic abnormalities among 4-year-old children. The study completion date listed in this record was obtained from the "End Date" entered in the Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS) record.

Gottlieb DJ, Vezina RM, Chase C, Lesko SM, Heeren TC, Weese-Mayer DE, Auerbach SH, Corwin MJ. Symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing in 5-year-old children are associated with sleepiness and problem behaviors. Pediatrics. 2003 Oct;112(4):870-7. doi: 10.1542/peds.112.4.870.

Gottlieb DJ, Chase C, Vezina RM, Heeren TC, Corwin MJ, Auerbach SH, Weese-Mayer DE, Lesko SM. Sleep-disordered breathing symptoms are associated with poorer cognitive function in 5-year-old children. J Pediatr. 2004 Oct;145(4):458-64. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2004.05.039.