Neurobehavioral Morbidity in Children with Sleep-Disordered Breathing

The consequences of respiratory sleep disturbances on neurocognitive function in children have impelled increased research efforts, which thus far suggest a strong causal association between the episodic hypoxia and sleep fragmentation that characterize the disease and the development of diminished memory, attention, and intelligence. Inappropriate sleep habits in children have increased in developed countries and have become a major public health concern. Indeed, the impositions of daily life in technologically advanced societies on sleep and wake schedules have markedly shortened the total duration of sleep that children obtain these days. When sleep fragmentation is conducted in healthy adults using auditory stimuli to elicit arousals throughout the night, detriments in performance are clearly apparent the following day. Acute sleep restriction for one night in children has been shown to increase inattentive behavior the following day, although no changes were observed in hyperactive or impulsive behaviors.