The diagnosis and management of common sleep disorders in adolescents

Sleep problems in adolescents are very common and negatively impact the quality of their health and lives, yet often go undiagnosed. This review is meant to familiarize pediatricians with some of the more commonly encountered sleep disorders in this age group, and to review their diagnosis and management.

Recent findings reinforce the ubiquity of insufficient and poor-quality sleep in teens and their consequences on physical and mental health, cognition, and behavior. Increasing use of technology by teens, especially at night, plays a growing role in this. Parentally set bedtimes can be effective in increasing the sleep duration, thereby diminishing the consequences of insufficient sleep. Parasomnias, common in early childhood, usually diminish with the transition into adolescence. An almost 10-fold increase in the incidence of narcolepsy has been reported following the use of one type of vaccination against influenza H1N1 in Europe. Recent guidelines for the diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnea are reviewed, as are recent guidelines pertaining to the management of sleep disorders of children on the autism spectrum.

Sleep disorders in adolescents are both very common and underdiagnosed, adversely affecting their overall well being.