Investigation of Sleep Quality and Prevalence of Sleep-disordered Breathing in Children and Young People With Epilepsy

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a condition that affects around one in 20 children. In children with OSA, repeated episodes of airway obstruction can severely disturb and fragment sleep, leading to subsequent cognitive and behavioural problems . Epilepsy affects 60,000 children in the UK and up to 30% of children with epilepsy have learning problems. Evidence suggests that OSA is more common in children with epilepsy, such that sleep disturbance could account for some of the learning problems they experience. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of OSA in children with epilepsy. The investigators plan carry out detailed sleep studies in children with epilepsy and healthy controls to determine if children with epilepsy are more likely to have OSA than healthy children of the same age. OSA is almost always treatable and the benefits of detecting and treating the condition in healthy children are well-established. If OSA proves to be a common finding in children with epilepsy, it will be important to carry out further studies to see if treating the condition has beneficial effects on learning and behaviour. This project could lead doctors to target sleep-disordered breathing as a way of improving learning outcomes in children with epilepsy.