Arousal norms for children age 5–16 years based on home polysomnography

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Stores, Gregory | Crawford, Christina

Affiliations: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Section of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Park Hospital for Children, Old Road, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LQ, UK

Abstract: Fragmentation of sleep by brief arousals has become an acknowledged aspect of poor quality sleep but there is a shortage of normative data on such arousals, especially for children. Norms for arousals (defined according to American Sleep Disorders Association criteria) were compiled for 61 children age 5–16 years using the Oxford Medilog system for a single night of home polysomnography. No significant differences were seen between the five age subgroups considered in average number of arousals per hour of sleep although individual differences were apparent at each age level and arousal duration was somewhat longer at younger ages. The low arousal rates in the children studied are in keeping with other evidence that arousal rates increase throughout life. Boys were no different from girls in either arousal frequency or duration. Arousal frequency was correlated with PSG awakenings but only to a modest extent. These new normative values should be useful in clinical practice and research for the assessment of the quality of children's sleep.

DOI: 10.3233/THC-2000-8504

Journal: Technology and Health Care, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 285-290, 2000