Age and seasons influence on at-home pulse oximetry results in children evaluated for suspected obstructive sleep apnea

摘要

Seasonal variability on obstructive sleep apnea has already been studied by polysomnography in children. Winter and spring season emerged as critical periods. No data are currently available for pulse oximetry performed at home. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of seasonality and age on the results of at-home pulse oximetry performed in children referred for suspected OSA. We retrospectively studied 781 children (64.3% Males), aged 4.9?±?2.5?years. For all patients, we evaluated both pulse oximetry metrics and the McGill Oximetry Score. Variables for seasonal groups were assessed using Kruskal-Wallis test. A logistic regression model was performed to assess the relationship between patients’ main characteristics, season period and the likelihood to have an abnormal McGill Oximetry Score. Patients recorded during winter were significantly younger (p?