Sardón O, Pérez-Yarza EG, Aldasoro A, Bordoy A, Mintegui J, Emparanza JI. Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome in Children Is Not Associated With Obesity.
ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006;
42:583-7. [PMID:
17125693 DOI:
10.1016/s1579-2129(06)60591-0]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) in the general pediatric population ranges from 1% to 3%. However, its prevalence in an unselected population of obese children is unknown. We studied the association between obesity and OSAHS in children diagnosed with the syndrome in a cohort of boys and girls (age range, 2-14 years) referred to the pediatric respiratory medicine outpatient clinic at our hospital for suspected apnea, snoring, or both over the past 5 years.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
The medical history of each patient was recorded and all patients underwent a physical examination, chest and nasal cavities radiography, and 8-channel respiratory polygraphy during sleep. The following variables were evaluated: sex, reason for consultation, source of referral, findings during upper airway examination, age, weight z-score (reflecting how much a finding differs from the mean and in what direction in a normally distributed sample), height z-score, body mass index (BMI) z-score, number of apneas, number of hypopneas, apnea index, hypopnea index, apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), oxygen saturation (mean and minimum) measured by pulse oximetry, number of snores, and snore index.
RESULTS
Of the 400 patients studied, 242 (60.5%) were male and 158 (39.5%) female. The mean age was 4.95 years. OSAHS (AHI> or =3) was diagnosed in 298 cases (74.5%) and these patients were then studied to determine the relation between OSAHS and obesity. The anthropometric distribution (expressed as mean [SD]) was as follows: weight z-score, 0.37 (1.31); height z-score, 0.23 (1.19); BMI, 17.063 kg/m(2) (2.51); and BMI z-score, 0.39 (1.36). The respiratory polygraph during sleep recorded an AHI of 6.56 (7.56).
CONCLUSIONS
No differences were observed between the height z-score, weight z-score, BMI z-score, age, and AHI. No association between obesity and OSAHS was found in this series. However, studies of larger, unselected populations are needed to determine if obesity is a risk factor for OSAHS in children.
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