Are sleep studies worth doing?
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate a sleep study service for children suspected of having sleep related upper airway obstruction (SRUAO).


METHODS
Prospective survey.


METHODS
Paediatric and ear, nose, and throat clinics of the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust.


METHODS
Consecutively referred children with SRUAO symptoms.


METHODS
Sleep study data, referring clinician's impression, and completed symptom questionnaires.


RESULTS
A total of 120 children (aged 6 months to 15.5 years) were studied. Study scores showed that 24 were classified as normal, 42 as mild, 33 as moderate, and 21 as severe SRUAO. In the 106 cases with matching data between clinician's impression and study score, 71 had good agreement, 18 were underestimated by the clinician, and 17 were over estimated. No cases reported as moderate or severe sleep apnoea by the study were referred by the clinician as normal. There were no important associations between parental symptom scores and sleep study scores.


CONCLUSIONS
In children with suspected SRUAO, sleep studies do contribute to assessing the need for operation, the likelihood of postoperative respiratory failure, or as a baseline or outcome measure in intervention studies.
van Someren
V
V
Department of Paediatrics and Neonatology, Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, Pond Street, London NW3 2QG, UK. Vvs@btinternet.com
Burmester
M
M
Alusi
G
G
Lane
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009068:Movement; D015588:Observer Variation; D010092:Oximetry; D017286:Polysomnography; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014741:Video Recording