Obesity linked to heightened risk of sleep-related breathing disorders in kids

Children with obesity face an increased risk of sleep-related breathing disorders, similar to those with Prader-Willi syndrome, as reported in a retrospective study.

For the study, researchers looked at 267 children at least 2 years of age who had obesity and genetically confirmed Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS group) or who had obesity only (non-PWS group). Clinical data and records of standard overnight polysomnography were obtained and then compared between the two groups during the study.

A total of 58 children met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. More children in the non-PWS group had obstructive sleep apnoea compared with the PWS group (97 percent vs 72.7 percent), but the difference was not significant (p=0.072).

However, significantly more children in the PWS group than in the non-PWS group had central sleep apnoea events (odds ratio [OR], 4.35, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.05–18.03; p=0.035) as well as sleep-related hypoventilation (OR, 4.66, 95 percent CI, 1.26–17.34; p=0.016).

Compared with those in the non-PWS group, children in the PWS group had higher sleep efficiency (p=0.038).

Of note, higher Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) was strongly associated with sleep fragmentation but only in the non-PWS group (p=0.027). In the PWS group, age had a moderate correlation with BMI (r, 0.559, 95 percent CI, 0.087–0.826; p=0.025) and with AHI (r, 0.686, 95 percent CI, 0.232–0.895; p=0.003).

The findings underscore the importance of undergoing polysomnography for both groups of children due to the significant risk of sleep-related breathing disorders, particularly during adolescence, according to the researchers.