Snoring and mental ability in children

Children who snore or have sleep apnoea score worse on memory tests and intelligence than unaffected children.Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine, USA studied a population-based sample of 205 five-year-old children. According to questionnaires filled out by parents, 30 per cent of the children experienced sleep-disordered breathing, defined as habitual snoring, loud or noisy breathing when asleep or witnessed sleep apnoea.General intellectual ability appeared to be significantly worse in children who suffered from sleep disordered breathing, when they were tested. The difference in IQ seen with the condition was more than twice that associated with modest childhood lead exposure. Other measures that were significantly worse included scores on memory tests, attention/executive functioning and behavioural control.