PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Uros Krivec AU - Marie Antonia Quéra Salva AU - Isabelle Constant AU - Adriana Ramirez AU - Frédéric Lofaso AU - Jean-Louis Pépin AU - Brigitte Fauroux TI - Nocturnal Hypoxemia, But Not Hypercapnia, Correlates With Sleep Quality in Children AID - 10.4187/respcare.01771 DP - 2012 Nov 01 TA - Respiratory Care PG - 1937--1944 VI - 57 IP - 11 4099 - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/57/11/1937.short 4100 - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/57/11/1937.full AB - BACKGROUND: A correlation has been observed between obstructive sleep events and sleep quality. The aim of the study was to assess if there is also a correlation between nocturnal hypoxemia and hypercapnia and sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation in children. METHODS: Nocturnal pulse oximetry (SpO2) and transcutaneous carbon dioxide (PtcCO2) recordings with simultaneous actigraphy were performed in 38 children with nocturnal hypoxemia and hypercapnia during spontaneous breathing (nocturnal hypoventilation [NH] group), 25 children with partially corrected nocturnal hypoventilation (PC-NH group), and 11 subjects with normal nocturnal gas exchange (no-NH group). RESULTS: Sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation on actigraphy correlated with minimal SpO2 (r2 = 0.21, P = .004, and r2 = −0.10, P = .050, respectively) and the percentage of night time with SpO2 < 90% (r2 = −0.33, P < .001, and r2 = 0.13, P = .028, respectively) in the NH group. Sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation also correlated with pulse rate standard deviation (r2 = −0.42, P < .001, and r2 = 0.37, P < .001, respectively). No correlation was observed between sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation and PtcCO2. No correlation was observed between sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation and SpO2, PtcCO2, and pulse rate in the PC-NH group. Sleep efficiency, sleep fragmentation, and nocturnal SpO2, and PtcCO2 were all normal and not correlated in the no-NH group. CONCLUSIONS: In children with nocturnal hypoventilation, nocturnal hypoxemia but not hypercapnia correlates with sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation on actigraphy.