Neurocognitive abilities in children affected by sleep breathing disorders. A systematic review and meta-analysis of
D Fantozzi1, T Doldo1, C Luzi1
1Unit of Orthodontics, Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Insights
Children with sleep breathing disorders (SBD) show significant neurocognitive deficits compared to healthy peers. This systematic review quantifies these deficits across various cognitive domains, highlighting the impact of SBD on child development.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Neuropsychology
- Developmental Pediatrics
Background:
- Sleep breathing disorders (SBD) are increasingly recognized to impact children's neurodevelopment.
- Previous studies suggest neurocognitive and behavioral impairments in children with SBD.
- Mouth breathing is a common symptom associated with SBD in pediatric populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and quantify neurocognitive deficits in pediatric patients with SBD, specifically those exhibiting mouth breathing.
- To synthesize findings from relevant case-control studies using meta-analysis.
- To assess the impact of SBD on various cognitive domains in children.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive literature search was conducted across major databases (Medline, Scopus, Scileo, Cochrane Library) from 2000 to June 2022.
- Studies comparing neurocognitive skills in children with SBD versus healthy controls were selected based on PRISMA protocol and predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria.
- Weighted Mean Differences (95% Confidence Intervals) were calculated for Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) test results.
Main Results:
- Children diagnosed with SBD demonstrated poorer performance across nearly all investigated cognitive domains when compared to healthy control groups.
- The meta-analysis quantified significant deficits in various aspects of cognitive function.
- WISC test results consistently showed lower scores in SBD-affected children.
Conclusions:
- The findings confirm that SBD significantly impacts cognitive functioning in children.
- These neurocognitive deficits span multiple domains, underscoring the importance of addressing SBD in pediatric care.
- Early identification and management of SBD may be crucial for mitigating long-term cognitive consequences.
Aim:
Different experimental approaches have demonstrated that children with sleep breathing disorders (SBD) exhibit neurocognitive and behavioural impairment. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aims to quantify neurocognitive deficit disorders in mouth breathing paediatric patients by summarising relevant case-controls studies. Neurocognitive assessment was undertaken with WISC.
Methods:
A search strategy was developed on electronic databases including Medline (Pubmed), Scopus, Scileo; Cochrane library from 2000 to June 2022 for published studies analysing neurocognitive skills in children with SBD compared to healthy control groups. The review was performed according to the PRISMA protocol and articles were selected according to the established inclusion and exclusion criteria. The Weighted Mean Differences (95% Confidence Intervals) were calculated between results obtained in WISC tests in SBD patients and healthy subjects.
Conclusion:
Our results confirmed that SBD affected children performed worse than healthy children in terms of quite all the cognitive domains investigated.
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