Prevalence of risk to develop obstructive sleep apnea in Bengali children using pediatric sleep questionnaire

Abstract

Context: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is being recognized as a serious medical condition, having various long-term effects on a child's well-being. However, very few epidemiological data are present for the Indian children who could be at risk for this condition.Aim: The aim of the study was to determine children aged 2–14 years who are at risk to develop OSA using the pediatric sleep questionnaire (PSQ).Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the postgraduate clinic of the department of pedodontics where participants were selected by a simple random sampling method. A sample size of 120 children aged 2–14 years was taken, whose parents were asked to fill the PSQ.Subjects and Methods: Children who had 8 “yes” responses of 22 questions were given a PSQ score ≥0.33 and were considered the OSA risk group. OSA risk group was further subgrouped based on gender, age, and questions with frequent yes answers.Statistical Analysis Used: Test of proportion and Chi-square test with the help of Epi Info (TM) were used in this study.Results: No statistically significant association was seen between risk to develop OSA with gender and age of patients. However, proportion of males with PSQ >0.33 was higher than that of females. Similarly, proportion of patients with PSQ >0.33 in the age group of 6–10 years, followed by the age group of 0–5 years, was significantly higher. Statistically significant association was found between OSA and hyperactive and interruptive behaviors displayed by the child patients.Conclusions: PSQ is a reliable tool to determine children at risk to develop OSA and can be routinely used for early diagnosis of pediatric OSA.