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Reliability of home-based physiological sleep measurements in snoring and non-snoring 3-year olds

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Abstract

Purpose

To study snoring and non-snoring 3-year olds in their own homes and to establish reference values and night-to-night variability of physiological measurements taken during sleep.

Methods

One hundred and sixty-six children, aged 3.2–4.0 years, identified as at high (n = 83, M/F = 1.5:1) or low (n = 83, M/F = 1.4:1) risk for persistent snoring, as rated by a parent, wore a sleep screening system (Grey Flash) for up to five consecutive nights, to measure snoring, oxygen saturation, heart rate, movement, sleep efficiency, and sleep timing.

Results

The snoring group snored 25% of their total sleep time, while the non-snoring group snored just 7.6%. Reliability estimates were calculated, using intraclass correlations to establish the reliability of single recordings and the Spearman–Brown prophecy formula to estimate reliability over multiple recordings. Snoring (percent), turn index (number of turns per hour), and mean heart rate were adequately assessed in both groups with one recording night (all intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) ≥0.70). Furthermore, mean SpO2 was measured with sufficient reliability with two recordings in non-snorers (ICC = 0.71), while five recording nights were necessary to reach reliability in snorers (ICC = 0.71). SpO2 nadir did not reach adequate reliability in either group even after seven recording nights.

Conclusions

Our results showed that snoring can be measured reliably at home with just one recording night, whereas most other physiological sleep measures require two or more recordings.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Freemasons New Zealand and the HS and JC Anderson Charitable Trust. The authors also wish to acknowledge the research assistance of Carmen Lobb and Sarah Divers. We are grateful to the parents and children who participated in the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Otago, P.O. Box 913, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Amelia I. Gill & Barbara C. Galland

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Elizabeth Schaughency

  3. Department of Preventative and Social Medicine, University of Otago, P.O. Box 913, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Andrew Gray

Authors
  1. Amelia I. Gill
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  2. Elizabeth Schaughency
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  3. Andrew Gray
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  4. Barbara C. Galland
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Correspondence to Barbara C. Galland.

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Gill, A.I., Schaughency, E., Gray, A. et al. Reliability of home-based physiological sleep measurements in snoring and non-snoring 3-year olds. Sleep Breath 17, 147–156 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-012-0663-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-012-0663-9

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