Auditory behavior and auditory temporal resolution in children with sleep-disordered breathing
Carlos Alberto Leite Filho1, Fábio Ferreira da Silva2, Márcia Pradella-Hallinan2
1Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), São Paulo, Brazil.
Insights
Children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) have impaired auditory processing. Primary snoring (PS) also negatively affects children's auditory behavior, suggesting sleep-disordered breathing impacts hearing skills.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric audiology
- Sleep medicine
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and primary snoring (PS) are common in children.
- Intermittent hypoxia from sleep-disordered breathing may affect auditory processing areas in the brain.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare auditory processing in children with OSAS, PS, and no sleep-disordered breathing.
- To evaluate performance on the Gaps-in-Noise (GIN) test and the Scale of Auditory Behaviors (SAB) questionnaire.
Main Methods:
- 37 children (6-12 years) were divided into OSAS (13), PS (13), and control (11) groups.
- Polysomnography was used to diagnose sleep-disordered breathing.
- The GIN test and SAB questionnaire were administered to assess auditory function.
Main Results:
- The OSAS group performed significantly worse on the GIN test's gap detection percentage compared to PS and control groups.
- The PS group reported significantly worse auditory behaviors on the SAB questionnaire than the control group.
- No significant differences were found between OSAS and control groups on the SAB questionnaire, nor between PS and OSAS groups.
Conclusions:
- Children with OSAS exhibit poorer auditory processing skills compared to peers with PS or no sleep-disordered breathing.
- Primary snoring negatively impacts auditory behavior in children.
- Sleep-disordered breathing, including OSAS and PS, may lead to auditory behavior impairments in children.
Objective:
Intermittent hypoxia caused by obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) may lead to damage in brain areas associated to auditory processing. The aim of this study was to compare children with OSAS or primary snoring (PS) to children without sleep-disordered breathing with regard to their performance on the Gaps-in-Noise (GIN) test and the Scale of Auditory Behaviors (SAB) questionnaire.
Methods:
Thirty-seven children (6-12 years old) were submitted to sleep anamnesis and in-lab night-long polysomnography. Three groups were organized according to clinical criteria: OSAS group (13 children), PS group (13 children), and control group (11 children). They were submitted to the GIN test and parents answered SAB questionnaire. The Kruskal-Wallis statistical test was used to compare the groups; p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results:
The OSAS group performed significantly worse than PS (p = 0.011) and Control (p = 0.029) groups on gap detection percentage, while PS and Control groups showed no significant differences. The three groups showed similar gap detection thresholds. Regarding SAB questionnaire, PS group had significantly worse scores when compared to Control (p = 0.011), but not to OSAS (p = 0.101) groups. No statistical difference between OSAS and Control groups were found.
Conclusion:
Children with OSAS showed worse performance on GIN test in comparison to children with PS and children without sleep-disordered breathing. PS negatively affected auditory behavior in children. These findings suggest that sleep-disordered breathing may lead to auditory behavior impairment.
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