Symptoms related to sleep-disordered breathing in white and Hispanic children: The Tucson Children's Assessment of Sleep Apnea study

The Tucson Children's Assessment of Sleep Apnea (TuCASA) study is designed to investigate the prevalence and correlates of objectively measured sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in preadolescent children. This article describes the parental report of sleep symptoms associated with SDB in Hispanic and white children. A 13-question sleep habits screening questionnaire designed to assess the severity of sleep-related symptoms associated with SDB in children 4 to 11 years of age. Questionnaires were completed by the parents of children attending elementary school in the Tucson Unified School District, Tucson, AZ. There were 1,494 questionnaires returned, which comprised a sample of whites (38%), Hispanics (45%), and other races (17%). Of these questionnaires, 1,214 were returned for the children of white (45.8%; 556 children) or Hispanic (54.2%; 658 children) ethnicity only. The primary analysis was completed on these 613 boys (50.5%) and 601 girls (49.5%). In the total sample of 1,494 children, parents were more likely to report excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in female children than in male children (p