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Multilevel Risk Factors for Sleep-Disordered Breathing-Related Symptom Burden in an Urban Pediatric Community-Based
Seyni Gueye-Ndiaye1, Marissa Hauptman1, Xinting Yu1
1Harvard Medical School (S. G.-N., M. H., X. Y., L. L., M. R., C. C.-D., J. O., D. R. G., W. P., and S. R.); the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders (S. G.-N., X. Y., L. L., M. R., C. C.-D., and S. R.), Brigham and Women's Hospital; the Division of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine(S. G.-N.), Boston Children's Hospital; the Division of General Pediatrics (M. H.), Boston Children's Hospital; the Region1 New England Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) (M. H.); the Department of Statistics (T. S.), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; the Division of Neurology (J. O.), Boston Children's Hospital; the Department of Medicine (D. R. G.), Brigham and Women's Hospital; the Department of Environmental Medicine (D. R. G. and G. A.), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health (N. M. and P. S. T.), University of Iowa College of Public Health; the Division of Allergy/Immunology (W. P.), Boston Children's Hospital; and the Department of Epidemiology (S. R.), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Insights
Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and indoor pest exposure are linked to increased pediatric sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) symptoms. Reducing these exposures may help alleviate sleep health disparities in children.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Pediatric Health
- Sleep Medicine
Background:
- Pediatric sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) disproportionately affects children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds.
- Multilevel risk factors contributing to pediatric SDB are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate associations between SDB risk factors and pediatric SDB symptoms.
- Examined individual health conditions, household SES, indoor exposures, and neighborhood characteristics.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 303 children (aged 6-12 years).
- Exposures assessed via caregiver reports, dust assays, and neighborhood Census data.
- SDB symptom burden measured using the OSA-18 questionnaire.
Main Results:
- Low household SES, asthma, allergies, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), and indoor pests were associated with higher SDB symptom burden.
- ETS and pest exposure remained significant predictors of SDB symptoms even after adjusting for other factors.
- A novel association between indoor pest exposure and SDB symptom burden was identified.
Conclusions:
- Indoor pest exposure, alongside ETS, is associated with pediatric SDB symptom burden.
- Interventions targeting household ETS and indoor allergen reduction may mitigate sleep health disparities.
Background:
Pediatric sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) disproportionately affects children with low socioeconomic status (SES). The multilevel risk factors that drive these associations are not well understood.
Research Question:
What are the associations between SDB risk factors, including individual health conditions (obesity, asthma, and allergies), household SES (maternal education), indoor exposures (environmental tobacco smoke [ETS] and pests), and neighborhood characteristics (neighborhood disadvantage), and pediatric SDB symptoms?
Study Design And Methods:
Cross-sectional analyses were performed on 303 children (aged 6-12 years) enrolled in the Environmental Assessment of Sleep Youth study from 2018 to 2022. Exposures were determined by caregiver reports, assays of measured settled dust from the child's bedroom, and neighborhood-level Census data (deriving the Childhood Opportunity Index to characterize neighborhood disadvantage). The primary outcome was the SDB-related symptom burden assessed by the OSA-18 questionnaire total score. Using linear regression models, we calculated associations between exposures and SDB-related symptom burden, adjusting for sociodemographic factors, then health conditions, indoor environment, and neighborhood factors.
Results:
The sample included 303 children (39% Hispanic, Latino, Latina, or Spanish origin; 30% Black or African American; 22% White; and 11% other). Increasing OSA-18 total scores were associated with low household SES after adjustment for demographic factors, and with asthma, allergies, ETS, pests (mouse, cockroach, and rodents), and an indoor environmental index (sum of the presence of pests and ETS; 0-2) after adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Even after further adjusting for asthma, allergies, and neighborhood disadvantage, ETS and pest exposure were associated with OSA-18 (ETS: β = 12.80; 95% CI, 7.07-18.53, also adjusted for pest; pest exposure: β = 3.69; 95% CI, 0.44-6.94, also adjusted for ETS).
Interpretation:
In addition to associations with ETS, a novel association was observed for indoor pest exposure and SDB symptom burden. Strategies to reduce household exposure to ETS and indoor allergens should be tested as approaches for reducing sleep health disparities.
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