Approximately 10% of children snore regularly, thereby increasing their risk of respiratory

Approximately 10% of children snore regularly, thereby increasing their risk of respiratory diseases, according to a British study presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) in Copenhagen.
Snoring were observed frequently in adults after 40 years and were considered relatively rare in children, remind Kuehni and colleagues from the Universities of Bern (Switzerland) and Leicester (United Kingdom).

In previous studies, regular snoring in children have been associated with behavioral problems, poor academic performance, or sleep apnea, they said.

In the results presented in oral session, the researchers show that the prevalence of regular snoring is higher in children.

They conducted a longitudinal study in the general population, a cohort of 8,700 children, interviewing the parents in 1998, 2001 and 2003.

The responses indicate that the prevalence of snoring was 8% in 1998 among children aged 1 to 4 years, 11% for the same children three years later and 11% in 2003.

Excluding the occasional snoring during a particularly cold, it appears that the prevalence of regular snoring is 8% on average, with an increase with age, as it is 6% within 4 years and 13% after.

The analysis of the information provided by the parents shows that predictors of regular snoring at the age of 6-9 years are passive smoking (risk multiplied by 1.6 if both parents smoke), regular snoring before 4 years of age, especially if sleep is disturbed (risk multiplied by 2.6), ear infections between 4 and 7 years (risk multiplied by 1.4) and a lower social class (risk multiplied by 1.7).

The researchers noted that children who snored regularly between 1 and 4 years had more ear infections between 6 and 9 years.

This higher prevalence of infections could be explained by early damage caused by chronic childhood disease in preschool or reflect a greater susceptibility to infections of the upper respiratory tract, the researchers commented in a press ERS.

They believe that children snore less than four years must be carefully monitored in case they posed persistent ENT problems or learning difficulties.