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Prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea among obese toddlers and preschool children

  • Pediatrics • Original Article
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Abstract

Background

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder estimated at 1–5% in the school-aged children. With the obesity prevalence reaching staggering rates globally, OSA in obese adolescents is estimated to be 4–5-folds higher than their lean peers. There is a paucity of data regarding obesity-related OSA in children 6 years and less. This is particularly relevant as OSA is associated with neurocognitive deficits. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of OSA among obese toddlers and preschool children and further to determine what other factors may be associated with the presence of OSA.

Methods

A retrospective study involving children ≤6 years, identified from two Canadian pediatric tertiary care centers who had an in-lab polysomnography (PSG). Obesity was defined by a BMI of > 95th percentile for age and gender or a z-score of > 2. OSA was diagnosed if the obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (OAHI) was greater than 2 events per hour.

Results

There were 60 participants included; the mean age was 4.4 years (standard deviation [SD] ± 1.7), mean BMI z-score was 3.0 (SD ± 1.2). Of these, 22/60 (36.6%) had OSA. Compared with the non-OSA group, the OSA group had a higher Epworth sleepiness score (p = 0.03) and were more likely to snore (p = 0.01).

Conclusion

Young obese children should be assessed for OSA. A history of snoring and daytime sleepiness may be useful indicators to facilitate triage for a PSG, especially in resource-limited settings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada

    Saadoun Bin-Hasan MBBCh, FRCPC, Zoe Nugent MD, FRCPC, Zihang Lu MSc, Abdullah Khayat MBBCH, Suhail Al-Saleh MBBS, MSc, FRCPC, Reshma Amin MD, MSc, FRCPC & Indra Narang MBBCH, FRCPCH, MD

  2. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Saadoun Bin-Hasan MBBCh, FRCPC, Suhail Al-Saleh MBBS, MSc, FRCPC, Reshma Amin MD, MSc, FRCPC & Indra Narang MBBCH, FRCPCH, MD

  3. Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Sherri Katz MDCM, MSc, FRCPC

  4. Biomedical Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Joy Nehme BSc

Authors
  1. Saadoun Bin-Hasan MBBCh, FRCPC
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  2. Sherri Katz MDCM, MSc, FRCPC
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  3. Zoe Nugent MD, FRCPC
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  4. Joy Nehme BSc
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  5. Zihang Lu MSc
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  6. Abdullah Khayat MBBCH
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  7. Suhail Al-Saleh MBBS, MSc, FRCPC
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  8. Reshma Amin MD, MSc, FRCPC
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  9. Indra Narang MBBCH, FRCPCH, MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Saadoun Bin-Hasan MBBCh, FRCPC.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (name the institution/committee) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. “For this type of study formal consent is not required.”

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Bin-Hasan, S., Katz, S., Nugent, Z. et al. Prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea among obese toddlers and preschool children. Sleep Breath 22, 511–515 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1576-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1576-4

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