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New study finds a strong link between young children who snore and developing hyperactivity later in life.

According to Ronald Chervin, MD, director of the University of Michigan Health System Sleep Disorders Laboratory, children who snore may be four times more likely to develop hyperactivity

How the Study was Conducted

The study involved 229 children who are now between the ages of 6 and 17. The children were drawn from the group of 866 2- to 13-year-olds whose parents were originally surveyed in the late 1990s, in the waiting rooms of several community-based pediatrics clinics. The parents agreed to allow the researchers to mail them a follow-up survey four years later; 229 returned it. The follow-up group was statistically comparable to the initial group.

Both at the baseline and at follow-up, the parents completed standardized questionnaires that measure a child’s behavior and sleep characteristics.

The results of this current study showed that children who snored or had other symptoms of sleep apnea, such as daytime sleepiness, at the start of the study were more likely to have developed hyperactivity four years later.

Until such studies can be done, he says, parents should pay attention to their children's sleep — and their own.

Reference

In addition to Chervin, the authors of the new paper are Department of Neurology Research Associate Deborah Ruzicka, R.N., Ph.D.; Kristen Hedger Archbold, R.N., Ph.D., a research assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Nursing; and U-M adjunct clinical child psychiatrist James E. Dillon, M.D. Reference: Sleep, Vol. 28, No. 8, July 2005, pp. 746-751.