Behavior problems associated with sleep disordered breathing in school-aged children--the Tucson children's assessment of sleep apnea study.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the current study was to examine prevalence of and relations between a commonly used measure of nighttime breathing problems, the Respiratory Disturbance Index (RDI), and a range of problem behaviors in community children.


METHODS
Participants were 403 unreferred children aged 6-12 years. Recruitment was completed through public elementary schools. Overnight unattended in-home polysomnography was used to assess sleep and breathing. The RDI was used as the indicator of respiratory events during sleep. The Child Behavior Checklist and the Conners' Parent Rating Scales-Revised were used to assess behavior.


RESULTS
Prevalence rates for Attention, Cognitive Problems, Aggression, Oppositional behavior, and Social Problems were greatest for subjects with high RDIs. Prevalence for Internalizing behaviors was not greater for those subjects with high RDIs. Hyperactivity was not strongly related to higher RDIs.


CONCLUSIONS
Behavioral problems may exist in the presence of nocturnal breathing events in unreferred children. Specific patterns of behavioral morbidity have still not been established. Some behaviors, such as hyperactivity, may show differing sensitivity and specificity in relation to the RDI.
Mulvaney
Shelagh A
SA
Center for Evaluation and Program Improvement, Vanderbilt University, Peabody 151, 230 Appleton Place, Nashville, Tennessee 37203, USA. shelagh.mulvaney@vanderbilt.edu
Goodwin
James L
JL
Morgan
Wayne J
WJ
Rosen
Gerald R
GR
Quan
Stuart F
SF
Kaemingk
Kristine L
KL
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001130:Arizona / Q000453:epidemiology; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017286:Polysomnography; D015995:Prevalence; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000150:complications*