Correlation between Quality of Life and Personality, Behavior Problem in Children with Sleep Disordered Breathing

Choi, Jee Hoon; Lee, Sang Hag; Lee, Heung Man; Lee, Jung Kyu; Kwon, Soon Young; Shin, Chol; Lee, Seung Hoon

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in children can have an effect on the quality of life as it may produce sleep disturbance, physical symptoms, and emotional distress in daytime function. It may also lead to the change of children's personality and behavior. We aimed to estimate the impact of SDB in children on the quality of life and the correlation between the quality of life and personality or behavioral problem. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: A total of 116 children aged 4 through 15 years old (M: 79, F: 37) with symptoms of snoring, mouth breathing, sleep apnea and physical examination results demonstrating tonsillar size of 3+ or greater were included. Two standard questionnaires, K-CBCL (Korean Child Behavior Checklist) and KPI-C (Korean Personality Inventory for Children) were used for evaluation of personality and behavior in children, and then a clinical analysis was carried out by pediatric psychologist for interpretation. To evaluate the quality of life in children, two other standard questionnaires, KOSA-18 (Korean Obstructive Sleep Apnea-18 Survey) and KOSA-6 (Korean Obstructive Sleep Apnea-6 Survey), were given to the parents of the children to complete. RESULTS: There was a significant correlation between the KOSA-18 score and the K-CBCL total problem behavior T score, the mean of KPI-C T scores (R=0.513, R=0.435 respectively), KOSA-6 score and K-CBCL total problem behavior T score, the mean of KPI-C T scores (R=0.347, R=0.398 respectively). CONCLUSION: In children, the larger the impact of SDB on the quality of life is, the higher the rate of personality or behavioral problem is. Therefore, the early and active treatment is needed in children with SDB who are scored highly by KOSA-18 or KOSA-6.