Sleep disturbances in parental caregivers and patients with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome

Study objectives: Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) is a rare disease characterized by impaired control of breathing caused by paired-like homeobox 2B (PHOX2B) gene variants, necessitating lifelong assisted ventilation (AV). This study aimed to assess sleep quality in patients with CCHS and their parents using sleep questionnaires.

Methods: Parents of patients with CCHS completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) regarding their sleep and the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) regarding their child's sleep.

Results: Twenty participants completed the questionnaires. The median (interquartile range) ages of the parents and patients were 41.5 (38.5-51.5) and 11.5 (7.4-16.7) years, respectively. The median (interquartile range) PSQI and SDSC scores were elevated at 6.5 (4-10) and 41.5 (34-51.5), respectively, suggesting that parents and patients with CCHS can experience sleep disturbances and poor sleep quality. There were no significant differences in SDSC (P = 1.0) and PSQI (P = .76) scores for AV with or without tracheostomy. Similarly, there were no significant differences in SDSC (P = .22) and PSQI (P = .34) scores based on PHOX2B genotypes. There was a moderately strong, significant, and positive correlation between the CCHS SDSC scores and parental PSQI scores (r = .48, P = .03), suggesting that sleep disturbances in patients with CCHS were associated with poor parental sleep quality. There was no difference in the median parental sleep duration between those with and without nighttime home nursing (P = .09).

Conclusions: Patients with CCHS and their parents are at risk for sleep disturbances regardless of their AV modality and PHOX2B genotype. In addition to AV management, patients with CCHS and their parents should be assessed for sleep disturbances.

Citation: Finch CE, Leu RM, Harford K-L, Westbrook AL, Kasi AS. Sleep disturbances in parental caregivers and patients with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome. J Clin Sleep Med. 2023;19(3):549-554.