Usefulness of a clinical questionnaire for diagnosis of respiratory disorders of sleep in children with neuromuscular diseases Utilidad de un cuestionario clínico para el diagnóstico de trastornos respiratorios del sueño en niños con enfermedades neuromus

Abstract

Objectives: To analyze the usefulness of a clinical questionnaire for the diagnosis of sleep disordered breathing in children with neuromuscular diseases. Patients and Methods: A sleep questionnaire and a polysom-nography were performed in a cohort of 21 children (14 boys) with neuromuscular diseases. ROC analysis was used to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the questionnaire for diagnosing sleep disordered breathing compared with polysomnography. Results: Median age was 10.7 years (2-17). According to polysomnogra-phy, 8 patients were classified as normal, 3 had primary snoring, 5 had central sleep apnea syndrome and 5 an obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Eleven questionnaire's scores suggested sleep disordered breathing. The questionnaire's score showed a sensitivity of 75%, specificity of 60%, positive predictive value of 33% and negative predictive value of 90% for the diagnosis of an obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. The same figure for the diagnosis of a central sleep apnea synd