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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.

Keywords:
Child; Stomatognathic System; Sleep Apnea; Obstructive; Sleep Disorders; Speech; Language and Hearing Sciences

RESUMO

Objetivo

Identificar e correlacionar as queixas de alterações miofuncionais orofaciais e de risco para distúrbios respiratórios do sono com hábitos de sono na infância.

Método

Participaram 71 pais ou responsáveis de crianças de 6 a 11 anos, matriculadas em uma escola pública. Foi aplicado um formulário com questões semiestruturadas/anamnese e os protocolos Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening - entrevista, Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening Tool Questionnaire, e Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire - todos em suas versões em português/Brasil no formato online. Para a análise estatística, realizou-se o teste de correlação de Spearman, considerando o nível de significância de 5%.

Resultados

29 crianças eram do sexo feminino (40,8%) e 42 do sexo masculino (59,2%), com média de idade de 8,52 anos. As queixas miofuncionais orofaciais encontradas foram relacionadas às funções de respiração (35,2%), mastigação e deglutição (32,4%) e hábitos deletérios (33,8%). Todas as crianças apresentaram um baixo risco para distúrbios respiratórios do sono e quanto aos hábitos de sono, 23 crianças (32,39%) apresentaram uma somatória menor, enquanto que 48 crianças (67,61%) ultrapassaram 41 pontos.

Conclusão

Houve correlação entre risco para distúrbios respiratórios do sono em crianças com as queixas de alterações miofuncionais orofaciais e com a baixa qualidade/maus hábitos de sono.

Descritores:
Criança; Sistema Estomatognático; Apneia Obstrutiva do Sono; Transtornos do Sono; Fonoaudiologia

INTRODUCTION

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) encompasses aspects characterized by upper airway resistance syndrome, snoring, and obstructive and central sleep apnea(11 Bitners AC, Arens R. Evaluation and management of children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Lung. 2020;198(2):257-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00408-020-00342-5. PMid:32166426.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00408-020-003...
). The latter is due to routine episodes of partial or total interruption of airflow in the upper respiratory tract caused by an anatomical obstruction in pharyngeal lymphoid tissue, making it collapse during sleep(22 Xu Z, Wu Y, Tai J, Feng G, Ge W, Zheng L, et al. Risk factors of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children. J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020;49(1):11-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40463-020-0404-1. PMid:32131901.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40463-020-040...
). In children, its main causes include hypertrophy of pharyngeal and palatine tonsils, obesity/overweight, neuromotor diseases, and syndromes or changes related to the craniofacial complex(11 Bitners AC, Arens R. Evaluation and management of children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Lung. 2020;198(2):257-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00408-020-00342-5. PMid:32166426.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00408-020-003...

2 Xu Z, Wu Y, Tai J, Feng G, Ge W, Zheng L, et al. Risk factors of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children. J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020;49(1):11-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40463-020-0404-1. PMid:32131901.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40463-020-040...

3 Kuok CM, Liu JR, Liang JS, Chang SH, Yang MT. Sleep problems in preschool children at the child development center with different developmental status: A questionnaire survey. Front Pediatr. 2022;10:949161. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.949161. PMid:36186644.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.9491...
-44 Miranda VGS, Buffon G, Vidor DDGM. Orofacial myofunctional profile of patients with sleep disorders: relationship with result of polysomnografhy. CoDAS. 2019;31(3):e20180183. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-1782/20182018183. PMid:31066751.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-1782/2018...
). These aspects can impair children’s global development, especially at school age when it is difficult to establish a sleep routine, compromising their weight, craniofacial, cardiopulmonary, neuropsychomotor, and behavioral growth, besides excessive daytime sleepiness and other disorders and habits unfavorable to restful sleep(33 Kuok CM, Liu JR, Liang JS, Chang SH, Yang MT. Sleep problems in preschool children at the child development center with different developmental status: A questionnaire survey. Front Pediatr. 2022;10:949161. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.949161. PMid:36186644.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.9491...
,55 Gios TS, Owens J, Mecca TP, Uchida RR, Belisario Filho JF, Lowenthal R. Translation and adaptation into Brazilian Portuguese and investigation of the psychometric properties of the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ-BR). Sleep Med. 2022;100:550-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2022.10.001. PMid:36308913.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2022.1...
,66 Koa TB, Seah JX, Ong JQW, Lo JC. Short sleep duration in school-age children: differential factors on weekdays and weekends. Behav Sleep Med. 2023;21(6):774-86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2022.2164001. PMid:36594607.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2022....
).

Polysomnography (PSG) is the worldwide reference objective examination to diagnose SDB. However, its high cost and inaccessibility for a large portion of the world population have led science to increasingly advance in recent years in developing standardized questionnaires able to screen the risks of SDB and other sleep disorders. Such progress seems favorable when considering the priority of these examinations and the importance of early treatment when necessary(77 Kljajić Z, Roje Ž, Bečić K, Čapkun V, Vilović K, Ivanišević P, et al. Formula for the prediction of apnea/hypopnea index in children with obstructive sleep apnea without polysomnography according to the clinical parameters: is it reliable? Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2017;100:168-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2017.06.032. PMid:28802366.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2017....

8 Cavalheiro MG, Corrêa CC, Maximino LP, Weber SAT. Sleep quality in children: questionnaires available in Brazil. Sleep Sci. 2017;10(4):154-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/1984-0063.20170027. PMid:29410747.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/1984-0063.2017...

9 Riha RL, Celmina M, Cooper B, Hamutcu-Ersu R, Kaditis A, Morley A, et al. ERS technical standards for using type III devices (limited channel studies) in the diagnosis of sleep disordered breathing in adults and children. Eur Respir J. 2023;61(1):2200422. http://dx.doi.org/10.1183/13993003.00422-2022. PMid:36609518.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1183/13993003.00422...

10 Ioan I, Renard E, Da Mota S, Bonabel C, Tiotiu A, Franco P, et al. Unattended home sleep studies for the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea in a population of French children. Sleep Med. 2023;102:117-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2023.01.001. PMid:36640557.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2023.0...
-1111 Pires PJS, Mattielo R, Lumertz MS, Morsch TP, Fagondes SC, Nunes ML, et al. Validation of the Brazilian version of the Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening Tool questionnaire. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2019;95(2):231-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2017.12.014. PMid:29501352.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2017.12...
) - although screening questionnaires do not substitute diagnosis with PSG.

Adenotonsillectomy is known to be the gold standard treatment of pediatric obstructive SDB(11 Bitners AC, Arens R. Evaluation and management of children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Lung. 2020;198(2):257-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00408-020-00342-5. PMid:32166426.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00408-020-003...
). Nonetheless, studies show that even after surgery, many children continue having functional changes in their stomatognathic system due to their old preintervention orofacial patterns(1212 de Felício CM, Dias FVS, Folha GA, Almeida LA, Souza JF, Anselmo-Lima WT, et al. Orofacial motor functions in pediatric obstructive sleep apnea and implications for myofuctional therapy. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2016;90:5-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2016.08.019. PMid:27729152.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2016....
), with changes in their craniofacial and muscle structure(1313 Hotwani K, Sharma K, Jaiswal A. Evaluation of tongue/mandible volume ratio in children with obstructive sleep apnea. Dental Press J Orthod. 2018;23(4):72-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2177-6709.23.4.072-078.oar. PMid:30304156.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2177-6709.23.4...
), as well as in breathing, mastication, swallowing, and speech(1414 Cheng SY, Kwong SHW, Pang WM, Wan LY. Effects of an oral-pharyngeal motor training programme on children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in Hong Kong: A retrospective pilot study. Hong Kong J Occup Ther. 2017;30(1):1-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hkjot.2017.09.001. PMid:30186074.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hkjot.2017.0...
,1515 Soares JP, Giacomin A, Cardoso M, Serra-Negra JM, Bolan M. Association of gender, oral habits, and poor sleep quality with possible sleep bruxism in schoolchildren. Braz Oral Res. 2020;34:e019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1807-3107bor-2020.vol34.0019. PMid:32187305.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1807-3107bor-2...
).

Thus, structured orofacial myofunctional assessment and follow-up with orofacial myofunctional therapy are necessary, even after adenotonsillectomy, essentially for children to achieve a good quality of life(1212 de Felício CM, Dias FVS, Folha GA, Almeida LA, Souza JF, Anselmo-Lima WT, et al. Orofacial motor functions in pediatric obstructive sleep apnea and implications for myofuctional therapy. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2016;90:5-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2016.08.019. PMid:27729152.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2016....
,1515 Soares JP, Giacomin A, Cardoso M, Serra-Negra JM, Bolan M. Association of gender, oral habits, and poor sleep quality with possible sleep bruxism in schoolchildren. Braz Oral Res. 2020;34:e019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1807-3107bor-2020.vol34.0019. PMid:32187305.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1807-3107bor-2...
). Given the above issues, this study aimed to correlate complaints of orofacial myofunctional changes and risks of SDB with children’s sleep habits.

METHODS

This quantitative, cross-sectional, observational study had a sample of 71 parents/guardians of public school children of both sexes, aged 6 to 11 years, attending from kindergarten to fifth grade between October 2020 and April 2021. The inclusion criteria were students properly enrolled in the participating school, aged 6 to 11 years, whose parents/guardians agreed with their participation by signing an informed consent form and filling out the entire form. The research was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Brasília - Campus of Ceilândia (UnB - FCE), under CAAE number 33422820.4.0000.8093 and evaluation report number 4.227.063. The study excluded children who were taking sleep-inducing drugs and who had been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, pervasive developmental disorders, or any syndrome that might impair their craniofacial and/or neurocognitive development, as well as those whose parents/guardians did not volunteer, did not sign an informed consent form, or filled out the questionnaires incompletely.

Data were collected remotely in a single stage through a form administered via Google Forms. The research was adapted to online data collection due to the social isolation safety measures to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the participating school’s coordinator was initially contacted via phone call to survey the students in the intended age range and send the form via e-mail to their parents/guardians. Hence, all parents/guardians of the children enrolled in that school were invited to fill out semi-structured questions essentially on age, sex, weight, height (to calculate the body mass index [BMI]), overall health, respiratory diseases, medications, nutritional aspects, syndromes, and mastication and swallowing difficulties. The same form also had the following three protocols, separated per category: the Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening (NOT-S) - interview, translated and validated in Brazilian Portuguese(1616 Leme MS, Barbosa TS, Gavião MBD. Versão brasileira do The nordic orofacial test-screening (NOT-S) para avaliação de disfunções orofaciais. Pesqui Bras Odontopediatria Clin Integr. 2011;11(2):281-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.4034/PBOCI.2011.112.21.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4034/PBOCI.2011.112...
); the Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening Tool Questionnaire (PosaST) - translated and validated in Brazilian Portuguese(1111 Pires PJS, Mattielo R, Lumertz MS, Morsch TP, Fagondes SC, Nunes ML, et al. Validation of the Brazilian version of the Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening Tool questionnaire. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2019;95(2):231-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2017.12.014. PMid:29501352.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2017.12...
); and the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ-PT), Portuguese version(55 Gios TS, Owens J, Mecca TP, Uchida RR, Belisario Filho JF, Lowenthal R. Translation and adaptation into Brazilian Portuguese and investigation of the psychometric properties of the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ-BR). Sleep Med. 2022;100:550-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2022.10.001. PMid:36308913.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2022.1...
).

NOT-S can be applied to various age ranges to indicate complaints of orofacial myofunctional changes. It has the following two parts: initial interview, addressing aspects related to (I) sensory function, (II) breathing, (III) habits, (IV) mastication and swallowing, (V) salivation, and (VI) mouth dryness, as well as the clinical examination. This research used only the interview to screen possible oral myofunctional complaints. Each domain has one to five items that must be checked with an “X” (indicating a change is present) or “0” (indicating its absence), with scores ranging from 0 to 6 (1 to 12 in the complete protocol) - higher scores indicate concern(1616 Leme MS, Barbosa TS, Gavião MBD. Versão brasileira do The nordic orofacial test-screening (NOT-S) para avaliação de disfunções orofaciais. Pesqui Bras Odontopediatria Clin Integr. 2011;11(2):281-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.4034/PBOCI.2011.112.21.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4034/PBOCI.2011.112...
).

PosaST - Brazilian version is highly sensitive to screen complaints of obstructive SDB in schoolchildren. It is basically an interview/questionnaire administered to the parents/guardians of children with SDB symptoms. It has six questions whose response patterns are based on the frequency with which episodes occur: “never” (0), “rarely” (once a week), “occasionally” (twice a week), “often” (three to four times a week); and “almost always” (more than four times a week). The item on snoring intensity, however, is scored as follows: “low” (0), “somewhat high” (1), “high” (2), “very high” (3), and “extremely high” (4). The mean of the six questions is calculated with the formula, A = (Q1+Q2)/2; B = (A+Q3)/2; C = (B+Q4)/2; D = (C+Q5)/2. The final analysis considers the summed score = (D+Q6)/2. Q1 refers to question 1 and so forth; scores ≥ 2.72 are suggestive of a high risk of SDB(1111 Pires PJS, Mattielo R, Lumertz MS, Morsch TP, Fagondes SC, Nunes ML, et al. Validation of the Brazilian version of the Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening Tool questionnaire. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2019;95(2):231-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2017.12.014. PMid:29501352.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2017.12...
).

CSHQ-PT has been adapted to Portuguese and aims to assess sleep habits in children aged 2 to 10 years, according to the parents’ perception in the previous week or the one nearest to the assessment. This version has 33 items with eight subscales that reflect the following sleep domains: (1) resistance to go to bed (items 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8); (2) sleep onset; (3) sleep duration (items 9, 10, and 11); (4) sleep anxiety (items 5, 7, 8, and 21); (5) nighttime wakefulness (items 16, 24, and 25); (6) parasomnia (items 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 22, and 23); (7) SDB (items 18, 19, and 20); and (8) daytime sleepiness (items 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33). The frequency with which these behaviors occur is classified as follows: habitually (5-7 times a week; total of 3 points); sometimes (2-4 times a week, total of 2 points), and rarely (0-1 time a week, total of 1 point). Items 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, and 26 have inverted scores - i.e., higher scores indicate greater sleep changes. The cutoff was set at 41 points to detect sleep disorders(55 Gios TS, Owens J, Mecca TP, Uchida RR, Belisario Filho JF, Lowenthal R. Translation and adaptation into Brazilian Portuguese and investigation of the psychometric properties of the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ-BR). Sleep Med. 2022;100:550-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2022.10.001. PMid:36308913.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2022.1...
). The analysis considered the mean and standard deviation of the sum of each subscale and the mean final score.

Statistical data analyses were described in means, standard deviations, and percentages. The Spearman correlation was applied to the final NOT-S, CSHQ-PT, and PosaST scores to correlate the findings and complaints of myofunctional changes, sleep, and SDB. The software used was SPSS, version 23, and the significance level was set at 5%.

RESULTS

According to statistics, the study included 71 parents/guardians of schoolchildren - 29 females (40.8%) and 42 males (59.2%), with a mean age of 8.52 years. The mean BMI was 17.73±4.39 kg/m2.

The medical history survey verified health problems, among which the most reported were night mouth breathing (15.5%), snoring (11.2%), asthma (9.9%), and sinusitis (8.5%).

The main orofacial myofunctional complaints found with NOT-S were in the domains of breathing (35.2%), habits (33.8%), and mastication and swallowing (32.4%). The results are shown in Table 1.

Table 1
Distribution of the sample regarding orofacial myofunctional complaints reported by the parents/guardians in the Nordic Orofacial Test- Screening (NOT-S)

PosaST found that all the children were at low risk of SDB (Table 2). As for sleep habits verified with CSHQ-PT, the sample mean score was above the cutoff, characterizing the possibility of sleep disorders (Table 3). Specifically, 23 children (32.39%) had a lower sum, whereas 48 children (67.61%) were above 41 points.

Table 2
Analysis of the Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening Tool (PosaST) questions concerning the risk of children’s sleep breathing disorders
Table 3
Distribution of the sample regarding sleep-related habits according to the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ-PT)

The inferential analysis verified a positive relationship between the risk of developing obstructive SDB (PosaST) and orofacial myofunctional complaints (NOT-S) (p = 0.033). Moreover, the risk of obstructive SDB (PosaST) was related to sleep changes (CSHQ-PT) (p = 0.007), which in turn was positively related to orofacial myofunctional complaints (NOT-S) (p = 0.000). The results are shown in Table 4.

Table 4
Correlation between scores of the Nordic Orofacial Test- Screening (NOT-S), Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening Tool (PosaST), and Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ-PT)

DISCUSSION

This study aimed to survey orofacial myofunctional complaints related to SDB in schoolchildren, demonstrating their correlation with SDB complaints and sleep habits. Therefore, speech-language-hearing therapists must work interdisciplinarily with related sleep specialization areas to diagnose and follow up on children with sleep complaints, which can coexist with orofacial function complaints.

According to the literature, school and preschool children at risk of SDB usually snore(33 Kuok CM, Liu JR, Liang JS, Chang SH, Yang MT. Sleep problems in preschool children at the child development center with different developmental status: A questionnaire survey. Front Pediatr. 2022;10:949161. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.949161. PMid:36186644.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.9491...
,1717 Andersen IG, Holm JC, Homoe P. Obstructive sleep apnea in children and adolescentes with and without obesity. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2019;276(3):871-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00405-019-05290-2. PMid:30689039.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00405-019-052...

18 Abtahi S, Witmans M, Alsufyani NA, Major MP, Major PW. Pediatric sleep- disordered brathing in the orthodontic population: prevalence of positive risk and associations. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2020;157(4):466-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajodo.2019.05.015. PMid:32241353.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajodo.2019.0...
-1919 Cardoso FB, Zanette LCN, Sônego M, Madeira K. Hipertrofia de adenoide correlacionada com outras patologias respiratórias em crianças de 2 a 7 anos. Journal Health NPEPS. 2020;5(2):89-102. http://dx.doi.org/10.30681/252610104536.
http://dx.doi.org/10.30681/252610104536...
). Even though the sample in this study was at a low risk of SDB, the results were similar to those in the literature.

Concerning the main orofacial myofunctional complaints found in Table 1, a study used NOT-S in Brazilian public school children aged 8 to 10 years but did not find a direct association with SDB. The interview verified that 50.8% of the children had difficulties masticating solid foods, and 24.4% of them snored(2020 Linas N, Peyron MA, Hennequin M, Eschevins C, Nicolas E, Delfosse C, et al. Masticatory behavior for different solid foods in preschool children according to their oral state. J Texture Stud. 2019;50(3):224-36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jtxs.12387. PMid:30636045.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jtxs.12387...
). The study also showed that mastication and swallowing (50.5%), habits (41.4%), and breathing (26.4%)(2121 Cavalcante-Leão BP, Todero SRB, Ferreira FM, Gavião MB, Fraiz FC. Profile of orofacial dysfunction in Brazilian children using the Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening. Acta Odontol Scand. 2017;75(4):262-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00016357.2017.1290823. PMid:28358288.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00016357.2017....
) were the most compromised domains, demonstrating that these aspects can impair child development. Despite the lack of a direct association with SDB, these findings were similar to the ones in the present study.

Another previous study assessed children aged 6 to 11 years diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and primary snoring, using the Orofacial Myofunctional Evaluation Protocol with Scores (OMES), PSG, and electromyography. It verified that children with OSA had changes in masticatory muscle strength/contraction, posture, mobility, and coordination, compromising their good performance in mastication, swallowing, and breathing (mostly mouth breathing)(1212 de Felício CM, Dias FVS, Folha GA, Almeida LA, Souza JF, Anselmo-Lima WT, et al. Orofacial motor functions in pediatric obstructive sleep apnea and implications for myofuctional therapy. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2016;90:5-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2016.08.019. PMid:27729152.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2016....
). The present study did not use objective examinations and assessment protocols to determine the aspect of abnormal orofacial functions, and its participants were not divided into experimental and control groups.

PosaST Brazilian version, administered in the present study, verified that all its children were at low risk of SDB, as described in the Brazilian validation study(1111 Pires PJS, Mattielo R, Lumertz MS, Morsch TP, Fagondes SC, Nunes ML, et al. Validation of the Brazilian version of the Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening Tool questionnaire. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2019;95(2):231-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2017.12.014. PMid:29501352.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2017.12...
). PosaST proved to be rather sensitive to screening particularly mild SDB symptoms, which tend to improve in 80% of the cases with medications and/or orofacial myofunctional therapy, without the need for adenotonsillectomy. This instrument was included in the present study for its high sensitivity and specificity and for being an easily applied screening instrument. So far, no other study was found in Brazil applying PosaST (except for the Brazilian validation one), and only one SDB screening questionnaire was found - although it included not only school and preschool children but also adolescents(2222 Leite JMRS, Ferreira VR, Prado LF, do Prado GF, de Carvalho LBC. Instrumento de Tucson (TuCASA) para avaliação de apneia do sono em crianças. Tradução e Adaptação Transcultural. 2014;22(3):395-403. http://dx.doi.org/10.34024/rnc.2014.v22.8081.
http://dx.doi.org/10.34024/rnc.2014.v22....
), who were not included in the present study.

Questionnaires on child sleep habits and disorders have been developed as a screening alternative to PSG and especially to complement the findings of medical history surveys and clinical assessments(55 Gios TS, Owens J, Mecca TP, Uchida RR, Belisario Filho JF, Lowenthal R. Translation and adaptation into Brazilian Portuguese and investigation of the psychometric properties of the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ-BR). Sleep Med. 2022;100:550-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2022.10.001. PMid:36308913.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2022.1...
,88 Cavalheiro MG, Corrêa CC, Maximino LP, Weber SAT. Sleep quality in children: questionnaires available in Brazil. Sleep Sci. 2017;10(4):154-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/1984-0063.20170027. PMid:29410747.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/1984-0063.2017...
,1111 Pires PJS, Mattielo R, Lumertz MS, Morsch TP, Fagondes SC, Nunes ML, et al. Validation of the Brazilian version of the Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening Tool questionnaire. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2019;95(2):231-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2017.12.014. PMid:29501352.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2017.12...
). The present study used the term SDB because, according to international guidelines and systematic reviews, it is the one used to refer to a group of respiratory manifestations that occur during sleep, interrupting the airflow in the upper airways, and causing micro-wakes(11 Bitners AC, Arens R. Evaluation and management of children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Lung. 2020;198(2):257-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00408-020-00342-5. PMid:32166426.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00408-020-003...
,99 Riha RL, Celmina M, Cooper B, Hamutcu-Ersu R, Kaditis A, Morley A, et al. ERS technical standards for using type III devices (limited channel studies) in the diagnosis of sleep disordered breathing in adults and children. Eur Respir J. 2023;61(1):2200422. http://dx.doi.org/10.1183/13993003.00422-2022. PMid:36609518.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1183/13993003.00422...
). The present research specifically used CSHQ-PT, which identified a lower occurrence of signs indicative of SDB than in the literature(33 Kuok CM, Liu JR, Liang JS, Chang SH, Yang MT. Sleep problems in preschool children at the child development center with different developmental status: A questionnaire survey. Front Pediatr. 2022;10:949161. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.949161. PMid:36186644.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.9491...
).

All protocols used in the present study were mutually correlated. However, no studies were found in the literature applying together at least two of these three protocols - in which sense this study is innovative. Thus, the greater the risk of SDB, the greater the impairments in orofacial functions. A study in 86 Brazilian and Italian children aged 4 to 11 years used instruments to screen SDB and orofacial complaints (though not PosaST or NOT-S). It verified that children with SDB had changes in the craniofacial complex and consequently in orofacial functions, demonstrating the existing relationship between these two aspects(2323 Corrêa CC, Weber SAT, Evangelisti M, Villa MP. The short evaluation of orofacial myofunctional protocol (ShOM) and the sleep clinical record in pediatric obstructive sleep apnea. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2020;137:110240. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2020.110240. PMid:32896353.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2020....
). Another study likewise demonstrated that SDB complaints are associated with orofacial myofunctional changes(2424 Baidas L, Al-Jobair A, Al-Kawari H, AlShehri A, Al-Madani S, Al-Balbeesi H. Prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing and associations with orofacial symptoms among Saudi primary school children. BMC Oral Health. 2019;19(1):43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12903-019-0735-3. PMid:30866906.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12903-019-073...
), as highlighted in the present study.

The aspects approached in the relationship between PosaST and CSHQ-PT demonstrated that the higher the risk of SDB, the greater the impairment in the quality of sleep. This is due to impaired sleep latency, duration, and efficiency patterns in children with SDB, causing excessive daytime sleepiness and multiple wakes, as reported in the literature(11 Bitners AC, Arens R. Evaluation and management of children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Lung. 2020;198(2):257-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00408-020-00342-5. PMid:32166426.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00408-020-003...
,66 Koa TB, Seah JX, Ong JQW, Lo JC. Short sleep duration in school-age children: differential factors on weekdays and weekends. Behav Sleep Med. 2023;21(6):774-86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2022.2164001. PMid:36594607.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2022....
).

The correlation between NOT-S and CSHQ-PT scores demonstrated that sleep disturbances directly influence the balance of orofacial functions. The literature has similar findings, such as in a Brazilian study that used NOT-S to investigate orofacial myofunctional complaints. Using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (instead of CSHQ-PT), it found that 38% of the sample had a low sleep quality(2525 Weyrich CC, Santos AHL, Carvalho SS, Hapner AVP, Stechman-Neto J, Cavalcante-Leão BL. Evaluation of sleep quality and relationship with orofacial dysfunction in children. OMDH. 2018;17(4):1-5.). Hence, all aspects reported above are closely interconnected and help negatively impact schoolchildren’s quality of life and development(55 Gios TS, Owens J, Mecca TP, Uchida RR, Belisario Filho JF, Lowenthal R. Translation and adaptation into Brazilian Portuguese and investigation of the psychometric properties of the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ-BR). Sleep Med. 2022;100:550-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2022.10.001. PMid:36308913.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2022.1...
,2626 Haci C, Açikalin RM, Gezginadam Z, Coşkun SÇ. Uyku apnesi hastalarinda gündüz aşırı uykululuk halinin değerlendirilmesi ve hayat kalitesi ile olan ilişkisinin saptanması. Med Bull Haseki. 2019;57:79-84. http://dx.doi.org/10.4274/haseki.galenos.2018.4726.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4274/haseki.galenos...
).

The limitations of this study are mainly related to not dividing the children into control and experimental groups, as all of them were at a low risk of SDB. Another factor with a great impact was the impossibility of collecting data in person (due to the measures taken to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic), preventing the use of the clinical assessment in NOT-S to determine more precisely the nature of the orofacial changes.

Future studies should use objective assessments and examinations to determine the diagnosis of orofacial dysfunctions in larger samples. They should also divide the sample into experimental and control groups to better determine the prevalence of the risk of SDB and its implications for the quality of children’s sleep and characteristics related to the stomatognathic system.

CONCLUSION

The risk of SDB in children was correlated with complaints of orofacial myofunctional changes and poor sleep quality/habits. This study's main orofacial myofunctional complaints were related to the respiratory system. These complaints may be associated with a possible risk of SDB, compromising the balance of orofacial functions and sleep quality in schoolchildren.

  • Study conducted at Universidade de Brasília - UnB - Brasília (DF), Brasil.
  • Financial support: nothing to declare.

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    22 Dec 2023
  • Date of issue
    2024

History

  • Received
    23 July 2022
  • Accepted
    23 June 2023
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