SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 9 -- Children with high blood pressure are more likely to snore and have other sleep-disordered breathing problems than normotensive peers, researchers said here.
Hypertension is known to be a risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea in adults. But a small study reported at the American Heart Association's Council for High Blood Pressure Research conference has linked the relationship to children as well.
Children with enlarged tonsils and hypertension were more than twice as likely to have sleep-disordered breathing than those with adenotonsillar hypertrophy alone (odds ratio 2.16, 95% confidence interval 1.18 to 3.95, P<0.007), found Alisa A. Acosta, M.D., of the University of Texas at Houston, and colleagues.
Nearly 60% of the study participants with both conditions had sleep-disordered breathing compared with the reported prevalence of 40% in kids with adenotonsillar hypertrophy only.
