title: Pediatric polysomnography: the patient and family perspective.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The gold-standard test used to diagnose childhood obstructive sleep apnea is polysomnography. However, this test requires an overnight stay at a sleep laboratory and the attachment of multiple sensors to the patient. The long-term impact of this testing on the child and family are not known. We hypothesized that polysomnography does not precipitate acute or chronic psychological effects in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A consecutive cohort of children who had undergone sleep studies 2 to 4 months prior to the interview were administered a standardized questionnaire via telephone.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 118 families that were eligible to participate, 67% could be contacted and agreed to participate; 87% of respondents reported the experience to have been satisfactory (mean Likert score of 8.6 ± 2.0 [SD] on a scale of 1-10). Similar levels of satisfaction were reported by parents of children with developmental delay or those who were younger than 3 years. The night's sleep was considered typical in 68% of cases. Sleep was less likely to be typical in children younger than 3 years (47%, p = 0.043). Eight percent of children experienced pain during the study. By caregiver report, of those children who remembered the sleep study, memories were positive in 84%. No child had evidence of serious long-term psychological issues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The vast majority of children and families found the polysomnography experience to be satisfactory, with no psychological sequelae. However, many children, especially those younger than 3 years, demonstrated sleep patterns different from their usual sleep. The clinical relevance of this finding merits further study. Further research evaluating the generalizability of this study is also needed.
authors.affiliation: The Sleep Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Shubhadeep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Jodi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mindell
authors.forename: Genevieve C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Millet
authors.forename: Dafna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ofer
authors.forename: Suzanne E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: Thornton B A
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.forename: Lee J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Traylor
authors.forename: Carole L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Marcus
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010372:Pediatrics; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000379:methods*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult