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Signal quality of home polygraphy in children and adolescents
Camilla Hansen1, Liselotte Sonnesen1, Agneta Markström2,3
1Section of Orthodontics and Dental Sleep Clinic, Department of Odontology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Insights
Home polygraphy (PG) is a feasible method for assessing sleep-disordered breathing in children, yielding good signal quality. Automatic scoring resulted in significantly higher sleep-disordered breathing markers compared to manual scoring.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Respiratory Physiology
Background:
- Home polygraphy (PG) is increasingly used for diagnosing sleep-disordered breathing (SDB).
- Assessing the signal quality (SQ) and scoring accuracy of home PG in pediatric populations is crucial for reliable diagnosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the signal quality (SQ) of home polygraphy (PG) in children and adolescents.
- To compare the outcomes of automatic versus manual scoring of home PGs in this age group.
Main Methods:
- 54 healthy children aged 9-14 years performed home PGs.
- Participants and caregivers were responsible for equipment setup and data collection.
- PGs were analyzed for signal quality and interpretability. Automatic and manual scoring differences for apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), apnea index (AI), hypopnea index (HI), and oxygen desaturation index (ODI) were examined.
Main Results:
- 86% of the home PGs were interpretable, with a mean SQ of 79.1%.
- Significant differences were observed between automatic and manual scoring for AHI, AI, HI, and ODI (p < 0.0001).
- Automatic scoring yielded significantly higher SDB markers compared to manual scoring.
Conclusions:
- Home polygraphy is a feasible diagnostic tool for children and adolescents, demonstrating good signal quality.
- Automatic scoring methods may overestimate the severity of sleep-disordered breathing compared to manual scoring in pediatric populations.
Aim:
The aims of the study were to examine the signal quality (SQ) of home polygraphy (PG) in children and adolescents and to compare automatic and manual scoring of the PGs.
Methods:
Clinical Trials Registration: NCT04964830. Participants and caregivers were instructed to set up the equipment and perform home PGs themselves. The PGs were analysed according to SQ and their interpretability and differences in automatic vs. manual scoring regarding apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI), apnoea index (AI), hypopnoea index (HI) and oxygen desaturation index (ODI) were examined.
Results:
54 healthy children aged 9-14 years participated in the study. 86% of the PGs were interpretable with mean SQ of 79.1% (CI 95%: 73.5%; 84.8%). Significant differences between the automatic and manual scoring were found for AHI, AI, HI and ODI (p < 0.0001).
Conclusion:
Home PGs of children and adolescents are feasible to be performed with good SQ. Significantly higher markers of sleep-disordered breathing were achieved in the automatic scoring in comparison with the manual scoring.
