Introduction
Sleep-related breathing disorders, or sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), cover a range of conditions including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), central sleep apnea (CSA), sleep-related hypoventilation disorders, and sleep-related hypoxemia disorder1. The most common type of SDB, OSA, has a prevalence of 1-4% among children, although a large variation between 0.1 and 13% exists due to varying diagnostic criteria2. With OSA being only one type of SDB, total SDB prevalence must be higher.
Overnight polysomnography (PSG) is considered the gold standard for diagnosing sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in children3. However, PSG poses challenges as it is expensive, time-consuming4, and can be particularly challenging in children5. In addition, the “first night effect” is a well-known pitfall of studying breathing disorders using PSG6. Pediatric SDB is typically known to be underdiagnosed7. This underdiagnosis could partly be due to the aforementioned problems in performing a PSG at a young age. This highlights the demand for prompt, easy and reliable diagnosis using safe, non-contact methods for respiration monitoring in a home setting.
To address the limitations of PSG, various monitoring systems, including actigraphy and oximetry, have been proposed. However, the widespread use of these systems is often hindered by the need for wiring sensors to the body. An easy-to-set-up noncontact system for home monitoring would allow more accessible respiration monitoring and would overcome the challenges of attaching wearables or wiring to the child. Safe, easy-to-use systems could be used for different purposes, including screening for SDB, long-term monitoring and treatment evaluation.
Past reviews have focused on home-based, but not specifically unobtrusive, respiration monitoring (e.g. Bertoni and Isaiah8), or have focused solely on measuring respiratory rate (RR) in neonates9. To our knowledge, no reviews have been conducted to identify contactless methods for respiration monitoring during sleep in young children.
The aim of this scoping review is threefold: (1) to provide an overview of the studies reporting on safe noncontact monitoring of respiration in young children; (2) to describe the accuracy of the techniques, and (3) to highlight the advantages and limitations of each technique.