Snoring in adolescents linked with problem behaviors but not cognitive deficits

Adolescents who snore frequently were more likely to exhibit behavior problems such as inattention, rule-breaking, and aggression, but they do not have any decline in their cognitive abilities, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM). This is the largest study to date tracking snoring in children from elementary school through their mid-teen years and it provides an important update to parents struggling with what medical measures to take to help manage snoring in their children.

Frequent snoring in children is often associated with poor health outcomes including poor classroom performance, problem behaviors, and lower quality of life. While clinical associations advocate for proactive treatment of sleep disordered breathing, the lack of available data from the population presents challenges in weighing the appropriate management options such as surgery to remove the adenoids and tonsils (adenotonsillectomy) and other non-surgical options.

The research team plans to further utilize AI capabilities at UM Institute for Health Computing to process larger datasets and examine the causal relationship between snoring and brain outcomes.

The study was supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the various funders of the ABCD study.

Source:

University of Maryland School of Medicine

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