TABLE 1.
Demographic and clinical differences between preschool and school-age children
| Preschool children (<6 years old) | School-age children (≥6 years old) | p-value | |
| Subjects | 292 (69.5) | 128 (30.5) | |
| Age years | 3.96±1.2 | 9.1±2.4 | <0.0001 |
| Males/females | 191 (65.4)/101 (34.6) | 83 (64.8)/45 (35.2) | 0.369 |
| BMI kg·m−2 | 16.4±2.3 | 20. 9±5.5 | <0.0001 |
| BMI percentile | 55±34.8 | 79.6±37.6 | <0.0001 |
| Obesity | <0.0001 | ||
| Yes | 41 (14.5) | 52 (40.6) | |
| No | 238 (85.3) | 76 (59.4) | |
| SCR score | 8.4±2.2 | 7.9±2.6 | 0.044 |
| Obstructive sleep apnoea | 0.680 | ||
| Yes | 237 (81.2) | 107 (83.6) | |
| No | 55 (18.8) | 21 (16.4) | |
| AHI events·h−1 | 8.2±8.9 | 7.7±10.5 | 0.662 |
| Main presenting symptoms | |||
| Apnoea | 253 (86.6) | 82 (64.1) | <0.0001 |
| Snoring | 284 (97.3) | 116 (90.6) | 0.078 |
| Restless sleep | 205 (70.2) | 79 (61.7) | 0.424 |
| History of adenotonsillectomy | 3 (1.03) | 4 (3.1) | 0.465 |
| Associated bronchial asthma | 52 (17.8) | 25 (19.5) | 0.583 |
| SCR parameters | |||
| Nasal septal deviation | 12 (4.1) | 35 (27.3) | <0.0001 |
| Oral breathing scoring | 139 (47.6) | 44 (34.4) | 0.019 |
| Nasal obstruction scoring | 244 (83.6) | 88 (68.8) | 0.003 |
| Arched palate scoring | 263 (90.1) | 100 (78.1) | 0.011 |
| Nasal secretions | 168 (57.5) | 62 (48.4) | 0.139 |
| Nasal mucosal hyperaemia | 127 (43.5) | 71 (55.5) | 0.047 |
| Inferior turbinate hypertrophy | 162 (55.5) | 91 (71.1) | 0.006 |
| Nasal hypotonia | 93 (31.8) | 28 (21.9) | 0.047 |
| Labial hypotonia | 83 (28.4) | 27 (21.1) | 0.055 |
| Saddle nose | 97 (33.2) | 17 (13.3) | <0.0001 |
| Nasal patency | 130 (44.5) | 64 (50) | 0.511 |
| Habitual nasal obstruction | 216 (74) | 77 (60.2) | <0.0001 |
| Tonsillar grading score | 203 (69.5) | 41 (32) | <0.0001 |
| Friedman grading score | 57 (19.5) | 30 (23.4) | 0.361 |
| Angle class scoring | 65 (22.3) | 45 (35.2) | 0.022 |
| Retrognathia/prognathia | 47 (16.1)/18 (6.2) | 39 (30.5)/6 (4.7) | 0.024 |
| Open bite | 52 (17.8) | 11 (8.6) | 0.017 |
| Deep bite | 103 (35.3) | 43 (33.6) | 0.911 |
| Cross bite | 72 (24.7) | 40 (31.3) | 0.151 |
| Overjet | 10 (3.4) | 15 (11.7) | 0.001 |
| Skeletal malocclusion | 226 (77.4) | 96 (75) | 0.902 |
| Positive Brouillette score | 248 (85) | 99 (77.3) | 0.131 |
Data are presented as n (%) or mean±sd, unless otherwise stated. BMI: body mass index; SCR: sleep clinical record; AHI: apnoea–hypopnoea index. Bold indicates statistical significance.