Prevalence of Sleep-Disordered Breathing in Children Ages Seven to 10 Years: A Comparative Study Before and After COVID-19 Lockdown.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of positive or potential sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in children ages seven to 10 years during two time periods: pre- and postCOVID-19 lockdown. Methods: Two groups of children with mixed dentition were consecutively recruited from two private pediatric dental practices in Southwestern Pennsylvania. All parents or guardians of the children were asked to complete the 22-question Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) as part of the routine medical history examination. High risk was defined as positive answers to 33 percent or more of the questions answered. Results: The overall sample had 183 males and 183 females. Between August 2016 and December 2017, the pre-COVID-19 lockdown period (PREL), 218 children were surveyed consecutively; 148 children were surveyed consecutively between September 2020 and March 2021, in the post-COVID-19 lockdown period (POSTL). Screening utilizing the PSQ identified 16.2 percent as high risk of SDB POSTL in contrast to 5.0 percent observed PREL (95 percent confidence interval [95% CI]=1.6 to 6.4; Pearson's chi-square test, P<0.001). There were no associations between sex or body mass index and high risk of SDB due to the lockdown. Conclusion: The results suggest a three-fold increase in the prevalence of positive or potential SDB subsequent to the commencement of the COVID-19 lockdown for this age group.