SLEEP-DISORDERED BREATHING AND BEHAVIOR IN 3 RISK GROUPS - PRELIMINARY FINDINGS FROM PARENTAL REPORTS

Sleep-related breathing disorders may cause excessive daytime sleepine ss, cognitive impairment, and behavior problems in children and adoles cents. Adenotonsillar enlargement (AT) is known to be a significant ri sk factor for these disorders, which have also been reported in severa l patients with Down syndrome (DS). Children with attention deficit di sorder/hyperactivity (ADD) show behavior problems that may be related to disturbed nocturnal sleep in some. To evaluate the relationships am ong these disorders and symptoms, parents of 29 school-aged children w ith AT, 70 with DS and 48 of their siblings (DS-SIB), and 21 with ADD completed a 20-item screening questionnaire covering nocturnal sleep s ymptoms and daytime behavior problems. Nocturnal symptoms of sleep-rel ated breathing disorders - snoring, breathing pauses during sleep - we re reported more commonly by parents of AT and DS children. However, p arents of two of the ADD children reported significant signs of sleep- related breathing disorders. Daytime behavior problems were more commo n in ADD and AT than in the DS group. Bedwetting reports did not disti nguish groups. Direct comparisons of DS and DS-SIB groups showed that more DS were mouth breathers, snored, stopped breathing at night, and were sleepy in the daytime. These findings underscore the importance o f obtaining a history of nocturnal sleep from parents of children with AT and DS, as well as those with disrupted daytime behavior.