Sleep Bruxism, Pharmacotherapy, Sleep Aspects and Screen Use in Children and Adolescents With Down Syndrome: A Cluster Analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Bruxism is frequent in individuals with Down syndrome (DS), and there is a need to identify patient profiles to develop treatment plans that meet their specific needs.

METHODS

Cluster analysis was applied on clinical, dentofacial, sleep, pharmacotherapy, and screen use cross-sectional data from 101 children/adolescents with DS (5-18 years).

RESULTS

Cardiopathy and thyroid dysfunction were the most frequent health conditions. Centrally acting medications use increased with increasing age. Proxy-reported and clinically based sleep bruxism (SB) was found in 5% of children and 46% of adolescents. Three clusters were generated: 'children without SB', 'children/adolescents with lower frequency of SB', and 'adolescents with high frequency of SB'. SB, age, reflux, antidepressant use, snoring, sleep time, and smartphone/tablet use contributed most to cluster classification.

CONCLUSION

The group of adolescents with high frequency of SB was characterized by antidepressant use, snoring, reflux, shorter sleep, and longer screen usage time.