Suspected pediatric sleep disordered breathing – when do we perform polysomnography?

Abstract

Objective: Snoring is common in children and diagnosing sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and assessing its severity is unreliable without polysomnography (PSG), a costly procedure that is not always readily available. Our objective was to identify those factors that influence the decision to refer children for PSG. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 1267 children aged 0–16 years with suspected SDB and/or adenotonsillar hypertrophy. Results: A total of 212 children (16.5%) underwent PSG. The likelihood of PSG being performed increased with age (OR 1.14, p