The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between various predicting tools and Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) to identify children with sleep disordered breathing (SDB). From 5 to 10 years old who came for orthodontic counseling, 61 children, whom had lateral cephalograms, pediatric sleep questionnaire (PSQ) records, and portable sleep monitoring results, were included in this study. A total of 17 measurements (11 distances and 6 angles) were made on lateral cephalograms. The measurements of lateral cephalograms, PSQ scales and portable sleep monitoring results were statistically analyzed. 49 of 61 (80%) patients showed AHI > 1, which suspected to have SDB and their mean AHI was 2.75. In this study, adenoid size (A/N ratio), position of the hyoid bone from mandibular plane, gonial angle, and PSQ scale were related to a higher risk of pediatric SDB. Also, oxygen desaturation index (ODI) and snoring time from sleep monitoring results were statistically significant in children with SDB using Mann-Whitney test (p ＜ 0.05). In conclusion, evaluation of hyoid bone position, adenoidal hypertrophy, gonial angle in lateral cephalogram, and PSQ scale was important to screen out potential SDB, especially in children with frequent snoring.

Sleep disordered breathing, Adenoidal hypertrophy, Hyoid bone, Lateral cephalogram, Pediatric sleep questionnaires