Validation of Sleep Questionnaires in the Down syndrome Population

Introduction/Research Significance: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is highly prevalent in the pediatric down syndrome population. In the non-syndromic population, the prevalence is about 1-5% whereas in the syndromic population, the prevalence is 50-100%. Sleep questionnaires are often used to screen for OSA, but these questionnaires have not yet been validated within the down syndrome population. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted to validate two sleep apnea-related questionnaires among children with down syndrome between the ages of 2 and 18 years old. Patients were enrolled through the Down Syndrome clinic at Oregon Health and Science University from 12/17/2020 to 02/11/2022. Caregivers were asked to complete the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ, a sleep apnea screening questionnaire), OSA-18 (a sleep apnea specific quality of life questionnaire), and the PedsQL (a generic quality of life questionnaire) and were asked to complete an overnight sleep study. PSQ and OSA-18 scores were compared to the sleep study and PedsQL results, respectively to calculate sensitivity, specificy, and positive and negative predictive values. Conclusion: Preliminary data demonstrate that these questionnaires perform similarly in children with Down Syndrome as in the general pediatric population. Additional data from an independent sample will be assessed to confirm these findings