[Prevalence of childhood obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome in a referral sleep unit]

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) affects between 1% and 6% of children. Its diagnosis includes: a) snoring and/or apnoea; and b) an apnoea and hypopnoea index >3/hour obtained by polysomnography (PSG). The main aim of this work is to determine the prevalence of OSAS in our study population.

We conducted a descriptive study with a sample of 151 children aged between 1 and 12 years, who had been referred to the sleep unit of the Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon for a PSG. We analysed the demographic variables sex and age; the clinical variables snoring, apnoeas and tonsillar hypertrophy; and the presence of OSAS based on the polysomnographic diagnostic criterion of an apnoea and hypopnoea index >3/hour.

The mean age of the sample was 5.37 years (standard deviation: 3.05) and 64.9% were males. In 90.1% of cases, the reason for the visit was suspected OSAS. Snoring, apnoeas and tonsillar hypertrophy were observed in 73.5, 48.7 and 60% of cases, respectively. OSAS was diagnosed en 19 children (12.6%); in 13.5% of snorers; in 15.1% of those with apnoeas; and in 15.6% of the children with tonsillar hypertrophy.

In our study, the prevalence of OSAS in children was 12.6%, which is higher than that reported in most epidemiological studies that include PSG for the diagnosis of OSAS.