Sleep Med Psychophysiol.  2009 Dec;16(2):74-78.

Relationship between Pulmonary Function and Apnea-Hypopnea Index in Asthmatic Children: The Preliminary Study

• Kang SG
• Lee HJ
• Lee SH
• Yoo Y
• Choung JT
• Kim L

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
It has been reported that the sleep apnea syndrome in the asthmatic patients is prevalent, however, the systematic study in this field using polysomnography has rarely been performed. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and the pulmonary function in asthmatic children.
METHODS
This study enrolled 19 male and 12 female asthmatic children aged 6-13 years (average 8.2+/-1.7 years old). Complete overnight polysomnography and pulmonary function test were performed for the participants.
RESULTS
Of the 31 asthmatic children, 21 (67.7%) met the diagnostic criteria of the pediatric sleep apnea and the average AHI was 1.7+/-1.5/h. The children with higher AHI showed poorer pulmonary function (FEV1/FVC ratio : p=0.002, FEV1%pred : p=0.047).
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that the prevalence of the pediatric sleep apnea could be very high among the asthmatic children and the severity of the sleep apnea correlates with the pulmonary function. However, the case-control study to compare the AHI between the asthma and control groups is absolutely necessary because few normative data are available for the children.

Keyword

Pulmonary function test; Apnea-hypopnea index; Sleep apnea syndrome; Asthma; Children

MeSH Terms

Aged
Asthma
Case-Control Studies
Child
Female
Humans
Male
Polysomnography
Prevalence
Respiratory Function Tests
Sleep Apnea Syndromes