A comparison of two screening tools for paediatric obstructive sleep apnea

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Sleep Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine
• Diagnostic Tool Development

Background:

• Untreated obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children leads to significant medical and psychological issues.
• Polysomnography is the gold standard for OSA diagnosis but is costly and burdensome.
• A simple, valid screening tool is needed to identify children at high risk for OSA.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of two screening tools for pediatric obstructive sleep apnea: a six-item scale and an eight-item IF-SLEEPY/IM-SLEEPY scale.
• To identify predictors of OSA in a pediatric population.
• To determine the optimal screening tool for early OSA detection in children.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cross-sectional study of 395 children referred to a sleep clinic.
• Data collected via questionnaires and sleep study reports.
• Comparison of sensitivity and specificity of the six-item and eight-item IF-SLEEPY/IM-SLEEPY scales for diagnosing OSA.

Main Results:

• 42% of children were diagnosed with OSA.
• The eight-item IF-SLEEPY scale showed 82% sensitivity and 28% specificity.
• The six-item scale had 17% sensitivity and 95% specificity.
• Logistic regression identified age, IF-SLEEPY/IM-SLEEPY score ≥3, and six-item scale score ≥2.72 as OSA predictors.

Conclusions:

• The eight-item IF-SLEEPY/IM-SLEEPY scale is a more sensitive screening tool for pediatric obstructive sleep apnea compared to the six-item scale.
• The eight-item scale's simple format facilitates completion and scoring.
• This tool can aid in the early identification of children with OSA, potentially reducing the healthcare burden.