Department of Educational Psychology, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran.
Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH.
J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2023 Aug 1;44(6):e429-e435. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001189. Epub 2023 Apr 26.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly prevalent among individuals with Down syndrome (DS), and the nonphysiological consequences of OSA require examination to inform treatment planning. This study aimed to investigate the association between OSA and aspects of language, executive functioning, behavioral, social abilities, and sleep problems in youth with DS aged 6 to 17 years.
Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to compare 3 groups adjusted for age, participants with DS with untreated OSA (n = 28), participants with DS without OSA (n = 38), and participants with DS with treated OSA (n = 34). To be eligible for the study, participants had to have an estimated mental age of 3 years. No children were excluded based on estimated mental age.
After adjusting for age, participants with untreated OSA showed a common pattern of lower estimated marginal mean scores than those with treated OSA and those with no OSA in expressive and receptive vocabulary and higher estimated marginal mean scores with executive functions, everyday memory, attention, internalizing and externalizing behavior, social behavior, and sleep problems. However, only the group differences for executive function (emotional regulation) and internalizing behavior were statistically significant.
Study findings corroborate and extend prior findings related to OSA and clinical outcomes for youth with DS. The study highlights the importance of OSA treatment in youth with DS and provides clinical recommendations for this population. Additional studies are necessary to control the effects of health and demographic variables.
阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停（OSA）在唐氏综合征（DS）患者中发病率很高，需要研究 OSA 的非生理后果，为治疗计划提供信息。本研究旨在探讨 6 至 17 岁 DS 青少年中 OSA 与语言、执行功能、行为、社会能力和睡眠问题等方面的关系。
使用多元协方差分析比较了 3 组参与者：未经治疗的 OSA 组（n = 28）、无 OSA 组（n = 38）和治疗后 OSA 组（n = 34）。参与者必须有估计的 3 岁心理年龄才能符合研究条件。没有根据估计的心理年龄排除儿童。
在调整年龄后，未经治疗的 OSA 组在表达性和接受性词汇方面的估计边缘均值得分均低于治疗后的 OSA 组和无 OSA 组，而在执行功能、日常记忆、注意力、内化和外化行为、社会行为和睡眠问题方面的估计边缘均值得分较高。然而，只有执行功能（情绪调节）和内化行为的组间差异具有统计学意义。
研究结果证实并扩展了先前关于 OSA 和 DS 青少年临床结果的研究发现。研究强调了 OSA 治疗对 DS 青少年的重要性，并为该人群提供了临床建议。需要进一步研究以控制健康和人口统计学变量的影响。
