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Sleep pressure score: a new index of sleep disruption in snoring children

Riva Tauman1, Louise M O'Brien, Cheryl R Holbrook

  • 1Kosair Children's Hospital Research Institute, Division of Pediatric Sleep Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville, Kentucky 40202, USA.

Sleep
|May 6, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) show altered sleep architecture, not preserved sleep patterns. A new sleep pressure score (SPS) may help assess sleepiness in snoring children.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Respiratory Physiology
  • Sleep Neurobiology

Background:

  • Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is common in children, but objective measures are infrequent.
  • Behavioral manifestations of EDS are prevalent in children who snore.
  • The relationship between sleep architecture, arousal, and sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) severity in children requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate alterations in sleep architecture and arousal indexes in relation to SDB severity.
  • To determine if sleep architecture is preserved in children with SDB.
  • To develop a practical measure for assessing sleepiness in snoring children.

Main Methods:

  • A retrospective and prospective study involving 182 children with SDB, 163 with primary snoring, and 214 controls.
  • Polysomnographic evaluation was conducted in a laboratory setting.
  • Analysis included sleep architecture, arousal indexes, and the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI).

Main Results:

  • Children with SDB exhibited significant increases in slow-wave sleep and decreases in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
  • A sleep pressure score (SPS) was derived, showing linear increases with AHI and higher values in African American and obese children.
  • Spontaneous and respiratory arousal indexes correlated negatively and positively with AHI, respectively.

Conclusions:

  • Sleep architecture is significantly disrupted in children with SDB.
  • A novel sleep pressure score (SPS) algorithm is proposed to quantify disrupted sleep homeostasis.
  • The SPS may serve as a valuable tool for assessing sleepiness in snoring children.
Abstract

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