title: Cognitive and academic functions are impaired in children with all severities of sleep-disordered breathing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The impact of the broad spectrum of SDB severity on cognition in childhood has not been well studied. This study investigated cognitive function in children with varying severities of SDB and control children with no history of SDB.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred thirty-seven children (75 M) aged 7-12 were studied. Overnight polysomnography (PSG) classified children into four groups: primary snoring (PS) (n = 59), mild obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) (n = 24), moderate/severe OSAS (n = 19), and controls (n = 35). Cognition was measured with a short battery of psychological tests including the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), the Wide Range Achievement Test-3rd Edition (WRAT-3), the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was lower general intellectual ability in all children with SDB regardless of severity. Higher rates of impairment were also noted on measures of executive and academic functioning in children with SDB.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that neurocognitive deficits are common in children with SDB regardless of disease severity, highlighting that such difficulties may be present in children in the community who snore but are otherwise healthy; thus our results have important implications for the treatment of pediatric SDB.
authors.affiliation: Critical Care and Neuroscience Research, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bourke
authors.forename: Vicki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Joel S C
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Angela R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Jackman
authors.forename: Asawari
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Killedar
authors.forename: Gillian M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Nixon
authors.forename: Margot J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Davey
authors.forename: Adrian M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Trinder
authors.forename: Rosemary S C
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Horne
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012890:Sleep; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D012913:Snoring / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D014888:Wechsler Scales