Sleep Disordered Breathing Severity Alters Overnight Temperature Changes in Children

The quality of sleep is very closely related to variations in body temperature. We aimed to assess the feasibility of skin temperature measurements in children attending the sleep laboratory for routine polysomnography and to determine whether there was a difference in body temperature between children with different severities of sleep disordered breathing. Skin temperatures were recorded using Thermochron iButtons (DS1922L, Maxim, Dallas Semiconductor Corp., USA) attached to the children's skin at three separate sites: chest (T_proximal), the left and right feet. Distal skin temperature (T_distal) was calculated as the average of temperatures for the left and right foot. Distal proximal gradient was calculated as T_distal minus T_proximal. Sixty eight children were recruited and 63 (93%) children (24F/39M) aged 6 to 11.9 years with complete data were included in the study: 25 primary snoring, 28 Mild obstructive sleep apnoea, 10 Moderate/Severe obstructive sleep apnoea. In the children with primary snoring and Mild obstructive sleep apnoea distal temperature and distal proximal gradient exhibited typical distal vasodilation before sleep onset and progressive vasoconstriction after sleep onset, whereas there were no significant changes with time in the children with Moderate/Severe obstructive sleep apnoea. The rate of change of temperature before sleep onset to sleep onset was also significantly slower in the Moderate/Severe obstructive sleep apnoea group. Our study shows that temperature can be measured in children during overnight clinical polysomnography and that changes during sleep are altered in those children with Moderate/Severe obstructive sleep apnoea compared to children with milder sleep disordered breathing.