Influence of Economic Connectedness on Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Severity and Adenotonsillectomy Outcomes

Objective To examine the influence of economic connectedness (EC), a measure of social capital, on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity and adenotonsillectomy outcomes in children. Study Design Retrospective study. Setting Single tertiary medical center. Methods The study population included 286 children who were referred for full‐night polysomnography for OSA and underwent adenotonsillectomy. The primary outcome was the relationship between EC and the presence of severe OSA, and secondary outcomes included postoperative emergency room visits and residual OSA after adenotonsillectomy. Linear regression, Kruskal‐Wallis test, Pearson's χ2 test, and multiple logistic regression were used for categorical and continuous data as appropriate. Results In this population, the median age was 9.0 (interquartile range [IQR] = 6.9‐11.7) and 144 (50.3%) were male. The majority were white (176, 62.0%), black (60, 21.1%), and/or of Hispanic ethnicity (173, 60.9%). The median EC of this population was 0.64 (IQR = 0.53‐0.86). Higher EC was associated with decreased odds of having severe OSA (odds ratio: 0.17, 95% confidence interval = 0.05‐0.61). However, EC was not associated with either postoperative emergency room visits or residual OSA. Conclusion EC was significantly associated with severe OSA (ie, apnea‐hypopnea index ≥ 10) but not with postoperative emergency room visits or residual OSA after adenotonsillectomy. Further research is needed to understand the effects of various social capital measures on pediatric OSA and adenotonsillectomy outcomes.