One percent to 4 percent of all children have obstructive sleep apnea, but many go undiagnosed and untreated, reports U.S. News & World Report.
“One to 4 percent of all children have obstructive sleep apnea, but many go undiagnosed and untreated because people do not recognize the symptoms,” says Dr. Rochelle Goldberg, director of sleep medicine services at Main Line Health and an associate professor at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.
Further complicating matters is that some children with sleep apnea are misdiagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder because, unlike adults, disrupted sleep makes kids hyperactive, experts say.
I have a daughter that has ASD/ADHD and I wonder if a sleep study would rule out ADHD due to OSA. Her sleep is not consistent she wakes up at different times of the night. Will be up sometimes 2-4 hrs then go back to sleep. Always breathes with her mouth open, occasionally snores and once in a while coughs in her sleep. I’m having a hard time getting a doctor to listen to me. I read an article not to long ago that children with neurological disorders have a higher chance of developing OSA and in turn causing hyperactivity. More research would be appreciated connecting both and why.
Concerned mom.
My son had OSA. He snored, breathed through his mouth so intensely that foam would be coming out his mouth like he was rabid. He’d also make choking sounds when sleeping and move his head around like he couldn’t breath until he swallowed very loud and hard. He was never in a deep sleep and moved around constantly. He was extremely overactive and had serveral meltdowns a day. My son also drooled excessively and from October to May would have tonsillitis a minimum of 5 times. As soon as I told our pedi about the snoring and choking in his sleep he sent us for a sleep apnea test with the ENT clinic. He proved to have OSA and his tonsillitis and adenoids were a 4 to 4.5 out of 4 on the enlarged scale. He had surgery May 1 2015, even though it was the scariest thing I’ve been through its also the best thing I’ve ever decided to go through with. Two weeks after surgery, the first time since birth my son hadn’t snored. He skeeps soundly now, doesn’t drool anymore, and is less irritable and hyper. For a child who showed signs for ADD he’s now just your usually energetic 4 year old boy.