Daytime sleepiness and emotional and behavioral disturbances in Prader-Willi syndrome

Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) often have excessive daytime sleepiness and emotional/behavioral disturbances. The objective of this study was to examine whether daytime sleepiness was associated with these emotional/behavioral problems, independent of nighttime sleep-disordered breathing, or the duration of sleep. Caregivers of individuals with PWS (aged 3 to 25 years) completed the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ), Epworth Sleepiness Scale for Children and Adolescents (ESS-CHAD), and the parent version of the Developmental Behavior Checklist (DBC-P). Sleep adequacy was adjusted for age by computing sleep duration against age-specific recommendations. The associations between ESS-CHAD and the total DBC and its subscale scores were evaluated by linear regression, adjusted for sleep-related breathing difficulties, sleep adequacy, and body mass index (BMI). There were 54 responses for individuals with PWS (including 22 males) aged 4.4–24.0 (mean 12.5) years. Daytime sleepiness predicted a substantial proportion of the variance in total DBC-P scores in the unadjusted model (28%; β = 0.028; p < 0.001) and when adjusted for sleep adequacy, BMI, and sleep-related breathing difficulties (29%; β = 0.023; p = 0.007). This relationship was not moderated by BMI Z -scores, but the relationship was more prominent for children younger than 12 years than for children older than 12 years. Conclusions : These findings provide preliminary novel evidence that daytime sleepiness may drive the expression of emotional/behavioral disturbances, and should be explored as a potential modifiable risk factor for these disturbances in PWS, particularly pre-adolescent children. What is Known: • Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) commonly experience excessive daytime sleepiness and exhibit emotional/behavioral disturbances. • In the typically developing population, sleepiness is associated with emotional/behavioral disturbances, independently of sleep-disordered breathing. . What is New: • This study found evidence for a direct link between daytime sleepiness and emotional/behavioral disturbances, independent of sleep-related breathing difficulties, sleep adequacy, and body mass index. • Excessive daytime sleepiness may be a modifiable risk factor for emotional/behavioral disturbances in PWS.