Department of Oral Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, Washington.
J Clin Sleep Med. 2019 Mar 15;15(3):445-452. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.7672.
This aim of this study was to evaluate oral health and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
This cross-sectional study involved 31 children who had baseline polysomnography studies and in whom a diagnosis of OSA was made by a sleep physician. They were evaluated against 36 control patients who, based on parent responses to the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire, were at very low risk for having sleep problems. The mean age of the cohort was 12.3 ± 2.7 years. The oral health status was examined clinically and recorded using caries and periodontal indices. OHRQoL was measured using the Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP) questionnaires.
Children with OSA had significantly worsened oral health compared to control patients as evidenced by more caries (15.2 and 3.2, respectively; < .001) and more periodontitis. Periodontitis severity was measured by the presence of bleeding on probing, (87% versus 30%, < .001) and higher number of sites with abnormally deep periodontal probing depths (2.7 versus 0.3, < .001). The COHIP scores were significantly higher among children with OSA compared to control patients, (29.7 versus 11.8, < .001) consistent with poorer OHRQoL.
This study suggests that in children OSA may have a significant association with poorer oral health when compared to control patients without sleep problems, and that their oral health status may have a negative effect on their quality of life. Increased awareness regarding the oral health effects of sleep-disordered breathing in the medical and dental community is needed.
本研究旨在评估阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）患儿的口腔健康和口腔健康相关生活质量（OHRQoL）。
这是一项横断面研究，共纳入 31 名接受基线多导睡眠图检查且经睡眠医师诊断为 OSA 的患儿，并与 36 名对照患儿进行比较，这些对照患儿的父母对儿童睡眠问卷的回答显示他们睡眠问题的风险非常低。队列的平均年龄为 12.3±2.7 岁。口腔健康状况通过临床检查和龋齿及牙周指数进行评估。使用儿童口腔健康影响简表（COHIP）问卷测量 OHRQoL。
与对照组患儿相比，OSA 患儿的口腔健康明显更差，表现在龋齿更多（分别为 15.2 和 3.2，<0.001）和牙周炎更严重。牙周炎的严重程度通过探诊出血（87%对 30%，<0.001）和异常深牙周探诊深度的位点数量（2.7 对 0.3，<0.001）来衡量。与对照组患儿相比，OSA 患儿的 COHIP 评分显著更高（分别为 29.7 和 11.8，<0.001），表明 OHRQoL 更差。
本研究表明，与无睡眠问题的对照组患儿相比，OSA 患儿的口腔健康状况较差，且其口腔健康状况可能对生活质量产生负面影响。医疗和牙科界需要提高对睡眠呼吸障碍对口腔健康影响的认识。
