Snoring, mouth breathing, or apnea early in life may predict later behavioral and emotional problems, researchers found. Signs of sleep-disordered breathing in children, ages 6 to 69 months, predicted a 60% higher risk of behavioral problems, such as hyperactivity, at age 7, Karen Bonuck, PhD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues reported. The children with the worst symptoms that persisted the longest were most likely to develop hyperactivity, conduct, and social problems in the longitudinal study in the April issue of Pediatrics. But even the kids whose symptoms resolved after peaking at around 18 months faced a 40% to 50% elevated risk of behavioral problems at age 7 compared with those who never had symptoms. Sleep-disordered breathing also correlated with anxiety and depression across all the symptomatic groups, with 32% to 65% elevated odds at age 7 (all P<0.01 or P<0.05).

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Author: Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today

This article originally appeared on MedPage Today.