Chest
Clinical InvestigationsSLEEPPrevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome in a Cohort of 1,207 Children of Southern Italy
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
This study is a part of a large epidemiologic survey on the definition of sleep-related disorders in childhood in southern Italy, and it is aimed to evaluate the prevalence of OSAS. A sample of 1,207 children living in Molfetta, a small town with 65,000 inhabitants 30 km north of Bari, was screened in this study. The school population of this town consists of 4,867 children (1,530 in nursery and 3,337 in primary schools). The student population was stratified by schools and by year of course;
Analysis of Questionnaires
Eight hundred ninety-five fully completed questionnaires were returned and scored (895 of 1,207 questionnaires; 74.2%). One hundred forty-three questionnaires (16%) were returned after one or two phone contacts by us; we believe that the 25% who did not respond represents the group of families that are not sensitive to the problem and therefore not are likely to have children suffering from OSAS. A comparison of demographic data of responders and nonresponders revealed no significant difference
Discussion
The present study, to our knowledge the first in a large cohort of Italian children, shows an overall prevalence of sleep breathing disorders of 4.9% for habitual snoring and of 1.8% for OSAS. Interestingly, troubled sleep, nocturnal sweating, and oral breathing were significantly more frequent than other symptoms in patients with OSAS.
The prevalence of sleep breathing disorders varies widely, ranging from 3.2% to 12.1% for habitual snoring and from 1.1 to 2.9% for OSAS.45 Several factors play
Conclusion
Our study has shown an overall prevalence of OSAS of 1.8%. However, the lack of a consensus for the diagnosis of OSAS in children and the impossibility to use the adult guidelines in the pediatric contest2 make it difficult to assess the prevalence of this disorder in childhood. Despite these methodologic and practical difficulties, it is necessary to sensitize the pediatrician toward the problem of sleep-related breathing disorders in order to identify children at risk and to offer a proper
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