Children with
Sleep Apnea have a hard time using the PAP machine
March 13th, 2006
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ResMed CPAP machine |
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A recent six month
study from John Hopkins Children’s Center along with two other pediatric
hospitals found that children with Positive airway pressure (PAP) have a
hard time using the equipment on a regular basis. This research study
was first reported in the March issue of Pediatrics.
The PAP mask which
allows for air to flow steadily in the air passage way improves the
health of obstructive sleep apnea patients. If the child fails to use
the equipment on a regular basis the health benefits are not seen.
Young children also can have breathing problems during sleep that can
affect how they behave during the day and at school.
There are an
estimated 2 percent of children in the United States that have sleep
apnea. The Children with sleep apnea may snore at night, have
interrupted breathing, sleep in unusual positions and be affected during
daytime hours. Children with sleep apnea may have either an anatomic,
or neuromotor causes and can sometimes have a combination of both. A
common cause of children with sleep apnea is enlarged tonsils and
adenoids, which is usually removed as a first line of treatment. When
the children used the PAP machines to aid their nighttime sleep the
parents reported that they had improved alertness while at school. If
children fail to address the sleep apnea problems in childhood it can
develop into hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and
increased mortality later in life.
"Despite
improvements with even irregular use of the device, parents often say
children are using PAP when the study shows they are not," said Ann
Halbower, M.D. who is a pediatric pulmonologist at the Johns Hopkins
Children's Center. "Obstructive sleep apnea can cause learning, memory
and IQ problems. Additionally, it affects breathing and oxygen levels,
and while PAP therapy helps the apnea, the maximum benefits come only
over time and with consistent use."
The study looked
at 29 children age ranging from 2 years through 16 years of age. The
researchers showed the proper way to use the PAP mask for use daily use
for sleep. There was an initial sleep study completed at the beginning
of the study for all 29 children. After the 6 month follow-up they did
another sleep study follow up on 20 children. The researchers completed
surveys with the parents of the 20 children that completed the 6 month
study in regards to how often they used the equipment and they also
compared the computer data collected by the machine itself. Some CPAP
machines are able to tabulate how many hours of use each night along
with any sleep apnea events an the air pressure setting used at the
time.
For the study,
researchers enrolled 29 children between 2 and 16 years of age and
instructed them to use the PAP masks at home every night. The 29
children underwent a baseline sleep study at enrollment, and 20 of them
returned for a follow-up sleep study after six months. In addition,
investigators surveyed the parents of the 20 children who completed the
study to get their account of usage, and also tallied recorded usage
data built into the PAP devices.
"What this means
is that with treatment, sleep apnea basically went from severe to mild
or better," said Halbower.
Parent’s answers
on the survey were exaggerated around two hours short every night when
compared against the CPAP machines data. The average for the children
was around five hours each night. The researchers said this was not
enough usage on the machine to achieve the full benefits. There were
around 78 percent of the parents that said their child did not use the
PAP machine every night.
Halbower suggests
that further research needs to be completed to find out reasons for
non-compliance and also to develop maybe a better treatment for children
that are not able to tolerate the PAP.
Nicole Wilson
Best Syndication
Books to
help you Sleep
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