Reasons and predictors for early termination of pediatric polysomnography: one children’s hospital’s experience

Shan Luong, Marilyn Culp, Morgan McCreary, Anna Wani, Michelle Caraballo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Study Objectives: We sought to identify reasons for early polysomnography termination in pediatric patients. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all studies conducted at the Pediatric Sleep Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center from January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2019, that were terminated before study completion. We investigated reasons for early termination and gathered characteristics such as age, sex, presence of neurocognitive impairment, payor status, seasonal variability, and testing site location. Results: There were 137 patients who terminated their studies before completion, comprising 1.05% of all patients who arrived for their scheduled polysomnographies during that time frame. The 3 main categories of reasons were equipment intolerance (47%), acute illness (33%), and parental refusal (20%). Parental refusal reasons included the patient’s becoming combative, a lack of specialized equipment, patient’s inability to fall asleep, forgetting the patient’s nighttime medications, and the parent’s inability to stay the night. Males represented a greater proportion of those who terminated due to intolerance of equipment (75%). Patients who terminated early due to equipment intolerance consisted of more neurologically impaired patients compared with those who terminated due to acute illness (56% vs 24%). Termination due to acute illness occurred more during the wintertime (44%) than in the summer (7%). In those who terminated due to parental refusal, there was a greater proportion of children under 6 years of age (75%). Conclusions: Determining factors that are associated with early polysomnography termination is an important step to help identify at-risk groups and implement strategies to improve study completion.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1711-1716
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Clinical Sleep Medicine
Volume19
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2023

Keywords

  • pediatric
  • polysomnography
  • sleep apnea
  • sleep lab
  • sleep study
  • termination

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology

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