Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Mar 1;39(3):699-704.
doi: 10.5665/sleep.5554.

Prevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children with Down Syndrome

Mieke Maris  1 , Stijn Verhulst  2 , Marek Wojciechowski  2 , Paul Van de Heyning  1 , An Boudewyns  1
Affiliations

Prevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children with Down Syndrome

Mieke Maris et al. Sleep. .

Abstract

Study objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in a large cohort of children with Down syndrome (DS), and to investigate which patient- related factors correlate with disease severity.

Methods: We performed a retrospective, cross-sectional study in children with DS referred for full overnight polysomnography in a tertiary care center.

Results: Polysomnographic data are available for 122 children (70 boys), age 5.0 y (2.8-10.5), and body mass index (BMI) z-score 0.7 (-0.3 to 1.7). The overall prevalence of OSA was 66.4%. In almost half of these children severe OSA was diagnosed (obstructive AHI [oAHI] ≥ 10/h). In children with parental reports of snoring or witnessed apneas (group A), OSA was significantly more common (75.7%) than in those without these symptoms (group B) 53.8% (P = 0.019). Children in group A had more severe OSA, oAHI 5.7/h (1.7-13.8) compared to those in group B 2.2/h (0.8-8.0) (P = 0.018). A significant inverse correlation between age and oAHI (P = 0.028) was found. Sex and BMI z-score were not significantly correlated to oAHI.

Conclusions: Based upon full night polysomnography, an overall 66.4% prevalence of OSA was found in children with Down syndrome. Even in those with a negative history for OSA, the prevalence was 53.8%. Younger age was associated with more severe disease.

Keywords: Down syndrome; obstructive sleep apnea; polysomnography.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of obstructive sleep apnea severity.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentages of children for each age group.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scatterplot with individual data for obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (oAHI) and body mass index (BMI) z-score.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bull MJ Committee on G. Health supervision for children with Down syndrome. Pediatrics. 2011;128:393–406. - PubMed
    1. Shott SR. Down syndrome: common otolaryngologic manifestations. Am J Med Genet C Semin Med Genet. 2006;142C:131–40. - PubMed
    1. Chin CJ, Khami MM, Husein M. A general review of the otolaryngologic manifestations of Down syndrome. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2014;78:899–904. - PubMed
    1. Shott SR, Amin R, Chini B, Heubi C, Hotze S, Akers R. Obstructive sleep apnea: should all children with Down syndrome be tested? Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2006;132:432–6. - PubMed
    1. Mitchell RB, Call E, Kelly J. Ear, nose and throat disorders in children with Down syndrome. Laryngoscope. 2003;113:259–63. - PubMed