Abstract
BACKGROUND:
A correlation has been observed between obstructive sleep events and sleep quality. The aim of the study was to assess if there is also a correlation between nocturnal hypoxemia and hypercapnia and sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation in children.
METHODS:
Nocturnal pulse oximetry (SpO2 ) and transcutaneous carbon dioxide (PtcCO2 ) recordings with simultaneous actigraphy were performed in 38 children with nocturnal hypoxemia and hypercapnia during spontaneous breathing (nocturnal hypoventilation [NH] group), 25 children with partially corrected nocturnal hypoventilation (PC-NH group), and 11 subjects with normal nocturnal gas exchange (no-NH group).
RESULTS:
Sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation on actigraphy correlated with minimal SpO2 (r2 = 0.21, P = .004, and r2 = −0.10, P = .050, respectively) and the percentage of night time with SpO2 < 90% (r2 = −0.33, P < .001, and r2 = 0.13, P = .028, respectively) in the NH group. Sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation also correlated with pulse rate standard deviation (r2 = −0.42, P < .001, and r2 = 0.37, P < .001, respectively). No correlation was observed between sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation and PtcCO2 . No correlation was observed between sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation and SpO2 , PtcCO2 , and pulse rate in the PC-NH group. Sleep efficiency, sleep fragmentation, and nocturnal SpO2 , and PtcCO2 were all normal and not correlated in the no-NH group.
CONCLUSIONS:
In children with nocturnal hypoventilation, nocturnal hypoxemia but not hypercapnia correlates with sleep efficiency and sleep fragmentation on actigraphy.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.