Incidence of sleep disorders in children with presumed normal variant short stature

J Paediatr Child Health. 2005 Jul;41(7):358-60. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2005.00631.x.

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether unrecognized obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is present in some children diagnosed with normal variant short stature.

Methods: One hundred and fifty-eight children aged less than 15 years and previously diagnosed with familial short stature or constitutional delay of growth were identified from the endocrine clinic database. A validated, standardized questionnaire designed to screen for symptoms of sleep disorders in children was mailed to the parents of eligible children.

Results: Fifty-three questionnaires were returned. Fifteen of these had an abnormal score (greater than the mean + three standard deviations in 1157 normal control children). Of these, 10 agreed to a sleep study. Overnight polysomnography showed no evidence of OSA or other sleep/breathing disorders. However, five (half) children showed frequent periodic leg movements of 6.3, 9.2, 9.4, 10.2 and 15.4 per h (adult normal <5 per h).

Conclusions: We did not find OSA among a group of children with normal variant short stature. However, we found frequent periodic limb movements during sleep in a large proportion of the subjects, the significance of which remains to be determined.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Body Height*
  • Child
  • Growth Disorders / complications
  • Growth Disorders / physiopathology*
  • Humans
  • New South Wales / epidemiology
  • Polysomnography
  • Restless Legs Syndrome / epidemiology*
  • Sleep Wake Disorders / epidemiology*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires