Obstructive Sleep Apnea and History of Asthma in Snoring Children

Asthma has been identified as a possible risk factor for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in children. It is not known whether parent-reported asthma increases the likelihood of the diagnosis of OSA in snoring children. We hypothesized that snoring children with asthma are more likely to have OSA than snoring children without asthma. This study is a 1-year retrospective review of polysomnogram and questionnaire data collected on 236 patients referred to the University of Maryland Pediatric Sleep laboratory for evaluation of snoring. Of the 236 patients, 58% (137/236) were boys, and 79% (173/219 reporting race) were African-American (AA). The age at referral was 7.2 +/- 3.7 years (mean +/- S.D.). Mean body mass index (BMI) percentile was 73.4 +/- 32.3%, with 43.2% (54/125) >95th percentile. A history of asthma was reported by 31.4% (74/236); no subject was symptomatic on the night of the study. We found no increased risk for polysomnographically diagnosed OSA for asthmatics. To the contrary, by logistic regression analysis, a parent/guardian report of asthma decreased the odds of having OSA by 34% (p = 0.027), controlling for individual and socioeconomic factors and assessment results. Polysomnographic (PSG) differences between asthmatic and non-asthmatic children were found in only the arousal index (11.0 vs.9.3 +/- 6.5/h, p = 0.099) and total sleep time (337.1 +/- 64.3 vs. 347 +/- 65.2 min, p = 0.1) In a referral-based group of predominantly AA inner-city snoring children, asymptomatic asthma decreased the likelihood of OSA.