Sleep Disorder

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Washington : If your child has behaviour issues like hyperactvity and anxiety, sleep disorder might be the culprit.

A US study has linked childhood sleep-disordered breathing (SDB),including snoring and sleep apnea, with behavioural problems.

Children with SDB, who are also overweight, sleep for short periods of time, or have other sleep disorder like insomnia are more prone to have behaviour issues, according to experts at Hasbro Children's Hospital.

"These risk factors can help identify those patients who are in need of aggressive interventions and close follow-up," lead author of the study Dr Judith A Owens said, adding physicians should consider the contributions of these factors when screening, triaging, evaluating and designing treatment for children with SDB.

The study published in the April issue of the Archives of Peadiatric and Adolescent Medicine analysed the charts of more than 230 children and adolescents between three and 18 years of age with SDB symptoms who were referred for sleep testing.

At least one sleep diagnosis, especially insomnia was present in the predicator of adverse behavioural outcomes, among the children who were studied. The findings also revealed that the weight group was closely associated with poor behavioural outcomes. The study complemented the researchers' predictions that a shorter sleep duration was associated with worse behavioural outcomes, particularly externalising concerns.