Exploration of the association between obesity and cognitive impairment in Chinese children with mild or moderate obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome.

Abstract Purpose To explore the association between obesity and cognitive impairment in children with mild or moderate obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). Design and methods A total of 71 children with obesity and 71 age- and sex- matched children who were non-obese were included. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children fourth edition (WISC-IV) was adopted to evaluate the cognition of the participating children. Pearson and partial correlation analysis were performed to investigate the relationships between neurocognitive functions and demographic and polysomnography parameters. Two-way Analysis of Variance was performed to evaluate the effect of obesity and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) on cognitive functions. Results Full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ, 92.4 ± 12.3 vs. 98.6 ± 13.1; P  Conclusions Obesity aggravates cognitive impairment in children with mild or moderate OSAHS. Practice implications Children diagnosed with OSAHS and obesity are recommended to control their body weight for the prevention, management and treatment of cognitive impairment.