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Sleep cyclic alternating pattern in normal preschool-aged children

Oliviero Bruni1, Raffaele Ferri, Silvia Miano

  • 1Centre for Pediatric Sleep Disorders, Department of Developmental Neurology and Psychiatry, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy. oliviero.bruni@uniroma1.it

Sleep
|September 21, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Cyclic alternating pattern (CAP) in preschool children increases with sleep depth, particularly during slow-wave sleep. Higher A2 phases suggest potential sleep instability in this age group compared to older children.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Sleep Medicine
  • Neurophysiology
  • Sleep Research

Background:

  • The cyclic alternating pattern (CAP) is a key indicator of sleep quality and stability.
  • Normative data for CAP characteristics in preschool-aged children are not well established.
  • Understanding CAP in this age group is crucial for identifying sleep disturbances.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To establish normative parameters for CAP in preschool-aged children.
  • To characterize the features of CAP during different sleep stages in this population.
  • To compare CAP characteristics with those of older children.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective study involving 10 healthy preschool children (3-6 years).
  • Polysomnography recordings were conducted over two consecutive nights.
  • Sleep structure and CAP were visually scored using modified criteria for electroencephalogram arousals.

Main Results:

  • CAP rate increased with sleep depth, peaking during NREM stages 3 and 4 (44.0% and 46.08%).
  • CAP duration was longest in stage 2 sleep.
  • Phase A1 was most frequent (63.2%), with specific distributions of A-phase subtypes across NREM stages.

Conclusions:

  • Preschool children exhibit increased CAP during slow-wave sleep, with a high proportion of A1 and A2 phases.
  • A relative decrease in A1 phases coupled with an increase in A2 phases may indicate greater sleep instability compared to prepubertal children.
Abstract

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