title: [Symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome in children].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the symptoms most frequently found in children with a polysomnographic diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS).
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated 38 children consecutively referred to the sleep laboratory with suspicion of OSAHS between June of 2003 and December of 2004. The patients were submitted to a pre-sleep questionnaire and to polysomnography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age was 7.8 +/- 4 years (range, 2-15 years), and 50% of the children were male. Children without apnea accounted for 7.9% of the sample. The obstructive sleep apnea observed in the remainder was mild in 42.1%, moderate in 28.9% and severe in 22.1%. Severe cases of apnea were most common among children under the age of six (pre-school age). In children with OSAHS, the most common symptoms were snoring and nasal obstruction, which were observed in 74.3 and 72.7% of the children, respectively. Excessive sleepiness and bruxism were seen in 29.4 and 34.3%, respectively, and reflux disease was seen in only 3.1%. Restless legs and difficulty in falling asleep were identified in 65 and 33%, respectively. All of the children diagnosed with severe OSAHS also presented snoring and bruxism.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Snoring and nasal obstruction were the most common symptoms found in our sample of children and adolescents with OSAHS. In addition, OSAHS severity was associated with being in the lower age bracket.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Cardiopulmonar, Salvador, BA, Brasil. palomabg@ig.com.br
authors.forename: Paloma Baiardi
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Gregório
authors.forename: Rodrigo Abensur
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Athanazio
authors.forename: Almir Galvão Vieira
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Bitencourt
authors.forename: Flávia Branco Cerqueira Serra
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Neves
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Terse
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hora
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002012:Bruxism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015508:Nasal Obstruction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D017286:Polysomnography; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012913:Snoring / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric