Sleep habits and orofacial myofunctional self-assessment of children at risk for sleep breathing disorders

Abstract

Purpose: To identify orofacial myofunctional complaints and sleep-disordered breathing and correlate them with sleep habits in childhood. Methods: The study included 71 parents/guardians of public school children aged 6 to 11 years. They answered a form with semi-structured medical history questions and the Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening - interview, the Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening Tool Questionnaire, and the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire – all of them in their Portuguese/Brazilian versions in an online format. Statistical analyses used Spearman’s correlation, setting the significance level at 5%. Results: There were 29 female children (40.8%) and 42 male ones (59.2%), with a mean age of 8.52 years. The study found orofacial myofunctional complaints related to breathing functions (35.2%), chewing and swallowing (32.4%), and deleterious habits (33.8%). All children were at a low risk of sleep-disordered breathing. As for sleep habits, 23 children (32.39%) had a lower total score, whereas 48 children (67.61%) exceeded 41 points. Conclusion: There was a correlation between the risk of sleep-disordered breathing in children with complaints of orofacial myofunctional disorders and poor sleep quality/habits.