Many parents report their child's breathing and sleep patterns during overnight sleep study as atypical.
Objective: To determine how closely parents/guardians of children undergoing polysomnography (PSG) felt the breathing and sleep patterns observed during PSG resembled those typically seen at home.
Methods and subjects: Retrospective chart and post-PSG questionnaire review of 200 consecutive PSGs.
Results: In all, 19 questionnaires were not completed, and 5 were only partially completed. A total of 115 respondents (64.2%) described the child's breathing patterns as "typical," 6 (3.4%) as "louder," and 58 (32.4%) as "quieter" than usual. Overall 69 respondents (38.7%) described the child's sleep as "typical," 45 (25.2%) as "more restless," and 21 (11.8%) as "better" than usual; 45 respondents (25.2%) described a longer and 16 (9%) a shorter sleep latency than usual.
Conclusion: Many respondents felt their child's breathing (35.8%) and sleeping (61.3%) patterns the night of the PSG did not reflect those usually seen at home, raising questions about how representative of normal breathing and sleep patterns those seen in the sleep lab truly are.