Facts About Sleep Disordered Breathing in Children less than 12 years of Age
10% of children snore normally and are called habitual snorers
1% of children have significant obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
15% of children with OSA do not snore
Children need 9-12 hours of sleep
Devices such as iPhones that emit blue light reset the bodies clock by 1-hour if viewed for 5-15 minutes before bed. The same for bright lights.
The history is not reliable in diagnosing sleep apnea in most cases
Children with OSA present with difficulty in getting out of bed in the morning, daytime tiredness and changes in academic performance, behaviour concerns and either a persistence of bedwetting or a relapse of bedwetting
Behaviour concerns include being hyperactive, inattentiveness,irritability and aggression. Symptoms are similar to ADHD
The 6 year old with OSA becomes sometimes becomes the 16-year old with anxiety and depression.
The most common cause of OSA in children is enlarged tonsils and adenoids
75% of children who have their tonsils and adenoids removed improve.
Increasingly it is believed that OSA in kids leads to OSA in adults
New technology now allows for screening for sleep apnea and other sleep disorders in children. It is done at home. The results are equivalent to an in-lab overnight study except that there is no audiovisual camera which mxaymiss the parasomnia’s of sleep walking and sleep talking.
The new technology of in home sleep studies is not currently covered by OHIP or most insurance plans and has a cost of $400.
