Abstract
Cicua-Navarro, Diana
PhD candidate, Social Sciences (Psychology), School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia and Sleep Technician Sleep Disorders Unit, Women's and Children's Hospital
Is snoring really associated with learning difficulties in children?
Sleep breathing disorders such as frequent snoring have been associated with memory loss, learning difficulties and behavioural problems in children. However, this is based on evidence largely collected from children referred by a doctor. More recently, a similar study performed on children recruited from a non-referred sample has shown that children who snore do not show impairments in daytime functioning. As a result, there is a need to further assess the relationship between snoring and daytime functioning in community samples. This could be particularly important for children, who are experiencing rapid cognitive and behavioural development, as deficits left untreated may lead to long-term issues.
Children included in the current study were selected from the South Australian Paediatric Sleep Survey (SAPSS) database -an epidemiological study examining the prevalence of sleep problems in children from the community. Children were classified as snorers or non-snorers based on parental report accomplished with a full night polysomnography. In our preliminary sample, which compared the daytime functioning of children who snored with non-snorers, we found no significant differences in daytime performance. However, we did find evidence of behavioural problems in children who snored. These findings highlight the contradictions between referred and non-referred samples. Further investigations are needed to clarify the cause of such different findings between the two populations.