• D Gozal, M Wang, and D W Pope.
• Kosair Children's Hospital Sleep Medicine and Apnea Center, Division of Pediatric Sleep Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, USA. david.gozal@louisville.edu
• Pediatrics. 2001 Sep 1;108(3):693-7.

ObjectivesExcessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) occurs frequently in adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, the incidence of EDS in children with OSA is unknown.MethodsTo determine overall daytime sleepiness in pediatric OSA, 54 children with OSA, 14 children with primary snoring (PS), and 24 controls (C) underwent an overnight diagnostic polysomnogram followed the next day by a multiple sleep latency test.ResultsThe mean apnea index was 15.1 +/- 9.5 standard deviation in OSA, 1.1 +/- 0.5 in PS, and 0.1 +/- 0.3 in C. Mean sleep latencies were 23.7 +/- 3.0 minutes in C, 23.7 +/- 3.1 minute in PS, and 20.0 +/- 7.1 minute in OSA patients. However, only 7 children with OSA had mean sleep latencies <10 minutes. In addition, shorter sleep latencies were more likely to occur in more obese OSA patients and those with more severe apnea index, and oxyhemoglobin desaturation.ConclusionsShortened sleep latencies occur in children with OSA, but EDS is infrequent and tends to develop among more severe and/or obese patients.

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