Prevalence and risk factors for sleep-disordered breathing in 8- to 11-year-old children: association with race and prematurity.

Objectives: To evaluate the extent to which sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) varies with putative demographic and medical risk factors and to estimate the prevalence of undiagnosed SDB.

Study Design: Prospective, cross-sectional study in a population-based cohort of 850 children (41% black, 46% preterm), 8 to 11 years of age. Participants' caretakers completed questionnaires about health and sleep. Children underwent overnight in-home cardiorespiratory recordings of airflow, respiratory effort, oximetry, and electrocardiography. SDB was identified by respiratory disturbance indices commonly applied in clinical practice. Risk factors were estimated by logistic regression. Prevalence was derived from cohort-specific estimates with birth weights from US live births data.

Results: Using the most inclusive definition, SDB was detected in 40 (4.7%) participants, with prevalence varying widely across population subsets. Depending on the definition used, SDB was 4 to 6 times more likely in black children compared with white children and almost 3 to 5 times more likely in former preterm compared with term children. The estimated population prevalence of SDB was 2.2% (95% CI, 1.2%, 3.2%).

Conclusions: SDB is a relatively common condition in 8- to 11-year-old children. Potentially vulnerable subgroups, black children, and former preterm infants, are at increased risk.