Association of sleep disturbance, bruxism, and psychological disturbance in children with airway obstruction: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: This cross-sectional study examines the relationship between sleep disturbance, bruxism, and psychological disturbance in children with airway obstruction. Materials and Methods: Children with nasal obstruction presenting to the epartment of Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) and Pediatrics, MS Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bangalore were recruited for the study. A prefabricated questionnaire was administered to the child’s parent or caregiver to assess the presence of bruxism and other associated factors. Associations between sleep disturbance, bruxism, and psychological disturbance in airway obstruction patients were analyzed using the Chi-square test. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: Of the 120 study children (47.5% females), 77.5% presented with airway obstruction, 72.5% presented with sleep disturbance, bruxism was 68.3%, and psychological disturbance was seen in 46.7% children. Children aged 7–10 years presented with a higher percentage of the presence of airway obstruction, sleep disturbances, bruxism, and psychological disturbances compared to other age groups (3–6 years and 11–15 years). 77.2% females and 60.3% males had bruxism, and this difference was found to be statistically significant. Children with airway obstruction show significantly higher rates of sleep disturbance (88.2% vs. 37%) and bruxism (81.7% vs. 22.2%) but were less strongly associated ( P = 0.04) with elevated psychological disturbance (51.6% vs. 29.6%). Conclusion: Airway obstruction among children strongly predicts sleep issues and bruxism, suggesting clinical screening in sleep medicine or ENT contexts in India. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Designing and conducting pediatric cross-sectional research, applying caregiver-reported questionnaires, and performing statistical analysis to quantify associations between airway obstruction, sleep disturbance, bruxism, and psychological disturbance.