Prevalence of OSA Risk and Bruxism in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Anna Alessandri-Bonetti, Federica Guglielmi, Andrea Faustini and 3 others
PMID 41261922WHAT IT FOUND
Children with autism scored higher risk of sleep apnea on a parent questionnaire, but that difference was no longer seen after accounting for cognitive and behavior symptoms.
No increase in teeth grinding was found.
Key findings
01On the parent sleep questionnaire, 60.3% of children with autism were at increased risk for obstructive sleep apnea, compared with 13.8% of controls.
02After adjusting for cognitive and behavior symptoms, children with autism no longer had significantly higher questionnaire risk for obstructive sleep apnea.
03Sleep bruxism was reported in 25.5% of children with autism and 32.8% of controls, and awake bruxism in 3.6% and 6.9%, with no significant differences.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study used a parent questionnaire to estimate obstructive sleep apnea risk, not sleep testing. No child referred for sleep testing completed it, so true obstructive sleep apnea was not confirmed. The questionnaire includes cognitive and behavior items that may reflect autism itself rather than obstructive sleep apnea. The sample was relatively small, with 58 children in each group. All participants were white Caucasian, and the study was done in one pediatric dental unit. Controls were also children attending the same dental clinic, so they may not represent all healthy children. The study did not test whether treating obstructive sleep apnea changes autism symptoms.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that children with autism have more confirmed obstructive sleep apnea. In this study, the questionnaire difference was no longer seen after accounting for cognitive and behavior symptoms, and none of the children referred for sleep testing completed it.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →