Parents Help Detect Sleep Problems In Children With Down Syndrome

from About My Area:
A recent study has found that parents play an important part in screening for sleep problems in children with Down syndrome.
These children often suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea, a condition which affects their breathing during sleep. Health professionals rely on parents' reports about their child's sleep, including restlessness, snoring and other forms of noisy breathing, when screening for the condition.
In the past, there has been some uncertainty among health professionals about the accuracy of these reports. However, this study, by a researcher at the University of Portsmouth, shows parents' reports are backed up by objective measures of activity during sleep and sound recordings.
This finding could help health professionals diagnose the condition, which can lead to an improvement in a child's ability to learn. In some cases, specific behavioural problems are attributed to a child's learning disability, when the cause is obstructive sleep apnoea, a treatable condition.