Pilot study on the validity of the pupillographic sleepiness test in children and adolescents.

OBJECTIVE

To report preliminary validation data for the pupillographic sleepiness test (PST) in children and adolescents.

METHODS

Twelve patients (13.1±4.4 years of age) underwent the multiple sleep latency test (MLST) and three PSTs at 09:00, 11:00, and 13:00 on one single day. Correlations were tested between mean sleep latency and gender-adjusted z-values of the natural logarithm of the pupillary unrest index (zlnPUI).

RESULTS

Spearman's correlation (P-value) between the zlnPUI values obtained at 09:00 and 11:00 with the MSL was rS = -0.641 (0.025) and r = -0.553 (0.062).

CONCLUSION

There was satisfactory agreement between PST and the MLST, which is similar to what is found in adults. The PST may be promising for the evaluation of daytime sleepiness in children and adolescents, and should be further evaluated in future studies.