Utility of Screening for Obstructive Sleep Apnea with the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) in Children with Craniofacial Anomalies

Abstract

Objective

To determine the accuracy of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) as a screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea in children with craniofacial anomalies.

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

Multidisciplinary cleft and craniofacial clinic at a tertiary care center.

Patients

Children with craniofacial anomalies 2 to ≤18 years of age who both completed a PSQ screen and underwent polysomnography (PSG) without interval surgery.

Main outcome measures

Sensitivity and specificity of the PSQ in detecting an obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 5 events/hour.

Results

Fifty children met study criteria, with 66% (n = 33) having an associated syndrome. Mean patient age at time of PSQ was 9.6 + 4.0 years. Overall, 33 (64%) screened positive on the PSQ, while 20 (40%) had an AHI ≥ 5. The sensitivity and specificity for identifying AHI ≥ 5 was 70% and 40%, respectively. With subgroup analysis, the sensitivity and specificity were higher (100% and 50%) in children with non-syndromic palatal clefting but lower (65% and 31%) in children with a syndrome or chromosomal anomaly. There was no correlation detected between PSQ score and AHI severity (p = 0.25). The mean obstructive AHI in the study population was 10.1 ± 22.7 despite 44% (n = 22) undergoing prior adenotonsillectomy.

Conclusions

The PSQ was less sensitive and specific in detecting an AHI ≥ 5 in children with craniofacial anomalies than in a general population, and particularly poor in for children with syndrome-associated craniofacial conditions. Given the high prevalence of OSA in this patient population, a craniofacial-specific validated screening tool would be beneficial.