Obstructive apnea is associated with poverty

Article Outline

• Copyright

The epidemiology of sleep disorders in children has been extensively studied by Redline’s group at Case-Western Reserve University, Cleveland. Spilsbury et al from that center report that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is increased in city neighborhoods with socioeconomic disadvantage even after controlling for possible confounding factors such as obesity, household income, ethnicity, and prematurity. This is an intriguing finding and the cause is not intuitively obvious. The authors discuss possible explanations, such as increased exposure to allergens, noise, or violence.

The implications of the study and areas for future research are discussed in an accompanying editorial by Carole Marcus from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Marcus suggests the interesting idea that genetic predisposition to OSA might have a role in a continuing cycle of poverty and disease seen in disadvantaged neighborhoods.