Sleep-disordered breathing among Saudi children seeking orthodontic treatment

AIMS: The aim of this research is to assess the prevalence of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and evaluate the risks and symptoms in children seeking orthodontic treatment in a Saudi dental center. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: It is a cross-sectional survey-based study. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Pediatric sleep questionnaire (PSQ) was used to survey 285 children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 years old who are undergoing orthodontic screening in a Saudi Dental Center. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: PSQ scores were tested with multiple variables including gender, parents' education, academic performance using Mann-Whitney-U test. Correlation of study sample scores with age were calculated using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient (rho). RESULTS: In this study 136 (47.7%) of the participants were deemed to be high risk for developing SDB and 149 (52.3%) were low risk, males were significantly at higher risk compared to females (P ≤ 0.05). Participants with previous adenoidectomy surgery were more likely to be identified as high-risk for SDB (P-value = 0.000) as well as participants with a family history of snoring (P-value = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Sleep disordered breathing was prevalent among Saudi children seeking orthodontic therapy, it is important to screen children and adolescents in dental pediatric and orthodontic clinics for SDB risk as this is a prevalent disorder among this population, early detection of SDB will improve patients' quality of life and prevent future complications associated to this disorder.