Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children

ABSTRACT Objectives Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has a prevalence of 4% in children. The few studies have explored the role of secondhand smoke (SHS) on OSA severity have shown contradicting results. Most studies have focused on the effect of SHS on snoring. This study explored the association of SHS exposure and OSA severity in children aged 3-18 years. Methods This is a retrospective single center IRB-approved study. Electronic Medical Records (EMR) were queried between 1/24/2015 and 1/24/2018 to obtain data on SHS exposure with standard questionnaires from perioperative database. SHS was analyzed as a binary variable and OSA was measured using obstructive apnea hypopnea index (OAHI) from polysomnography (PSG) as a continuous variable. Analyses were done on all children and in those with severe OSA (OAHI≥10/h) as a subgroup. Results EMR query yielded 101,884 children of whom 3,776 had PSG. Limiting baseline PSG in 3-18-year-old and reliable information on SHS yielded 167 analyzable children of whom 70 had severe OSA. Children exposed to SHS had significantly more public insurance than non-exposed (p Conclusion Children aged 3-18 years with severe OSA who were exposed to SHS were found to have 1.48 increase in odds of OAHI than those without SHS exposure. Results could be limited by retrospective nature of study and EMR tools.