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Sleep in the Down syndrome
H Hamaguchi1, T Hashimoto, K Mori
1Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Tokushima, Japan.
Insights
Children with Down syndrome (DS) exhibit distinct sleep patterns, including increased body movements and altered REM sleep intervals compared to neurotypical children. These findings highlight potential sleep disturbances in young DS patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Genetics
Background:
- Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder associated with various health complications, including potential sleep abnormalities.
- Understanding sleep characteristics in young children with DS is crucial for early intervention and management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and characterize the sleep patterns of young children diagnosed with Down syndrome.
- To compare sleep parameters between children with DS and age-matched neurotypical controls.
Main Methods:
- Polysomnography was used to record sleep in 10 children with DS (9 months to 7 years) and 16 controls.
- Analysis included sleep stage percentages, rapid eye movements (REMs)/min, REM interval (I)/min, awakenings, body movements (BMs), and twitch movements (TMs).
Main Results:
- Children with DS showed increased REMs/min and shorter REM intervals (I < 1 sec) in the 1-5 year age group compared to controls (p<0.05).
- Increased frequency of body movements (BMs) during total sleep (p<0.01) and abnormal BM patterns were observed in DS patients.
- Twitch movements (TMs) were less frequent in DS children (p<0.05), with abnormal TM patterns noted in several cases.
Conclusions:
- Young children with Down syndrome exhibit significant differences in sleep architecture and movement patterns compared to controls.
- Sleep disturbances, including increased awakenings and altered movement frequencies, are prevalent in this population.
- Further research is warranted to explore the clinical implications of these sleep findings in DS.
Abstract:
Polysomnographic recordings were obtained for 10 Down syndrome (DS) children (6 males and 4 females, 9 months to 7 years old) and 16 age-matched normal controls. The present study was conducted to study the sleep characteristics of DS patients of this age group. The percentage of each sleep stage, rapid eye movements (REMs)/min, time intervals between REMs(I)/min, times of awakening in the middle of sleep, body movements (BMs) and twitch movements (TMs) were studied. I/min was divided into three frequencies: I less than 1 sec, l less than or equal to I less than 2 sec and I greater than or equal to 2 sec. Two of the 10 patients showed an increase in the percentage of REM sleep. In the group aged 1 to 5 years old, the REMs/min and I/min (I less than 1 sec) values were higher than those in normal controls (p less than 0.05). Many times of awakening in the middle of sleep (greater than or equal to 5 times and/or greater than or equal to 60 min) were observed in 4 cases. The frequency of BMs in total sleep was higher than that in controls (p less than 0.01). Five of the 10 cases showed an abnormal pattern as to the frequency of BMs during each sleep stage. The frequency of TMs was less than that in controls (total sleep and stage 1, p less than 0.05; stage REM, p less than 0.01). Seven of 9 cases showed an abnormal pattern as to the frequency of TMs during each sleep stage.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)