Utilidad del Cuestionario Pediátrico de Sueño en la evaluación de la presencia de Apnea Obstructiva del Sueño

Abstract

Background: rest time is essential for the physical, cognitive, and behavioral development of children; however, disorders such as Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) can affect sleep quality. Although polysomnography is considered the gold standard for diagnosing this condition, there are clinical screening tools such as the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) that allow for the initial identification of associated symptoms. However, few studies have evaluated the usefulness of the PSQ in the pediatric population. Objective: to evaluate the diagnostic utility of the Colombian version of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) by relating its results to the presence of obstructive sleep apnea in pediatric patients treated during 2023–2024 at the Instituto Neumológico del Oriente in Bucaramanga. Methods: a diagnostic test evaluation study using secondary data was conducted. The study population consisted of 1,211 patients aged 2 to 12 years who were treated at the Instituto Neumológico del Oriente in Bucaramanga and presented symptoms related to OSA during 2023 and 2024. No sample size calculation or sampling technique was applied, as the entire population recorded in the database was included. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were analyzed, and the diagnostic performance of the questionnaire was assessed through statistical analyses, including sensitivity, specificity, and ROC curve calculations, using a cutoff point of 0.33. Results: a diagnostic test evaluation study was conducted using secondary data. The population consisted of 1,211 patients aged 2 to 12 years who were treated at the Instituto Neumológico del Oriente in Bucaramanga and presented symptoms related to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) during 2023 and 2024. No sample size was calculated, nor was a sampling technique applied, as all available records in the database that met the inclusion criteria were included. The study analyzed sociodemographic and clinical variables, and the diagnostic performance of the questionnaire was evaluated through statistical analyses, including the calculation of sensitivity, specificity, and the ROC curve, using a cutoff point of 0.33. Conclusion: the PSQ showed a sensitivity of 51.0% and a specificity of 54.7%, with a discrimination capacity of 52.2%, indicating the presence of false positives when classifying some healthy patients as sick.