Active strategies for children with obstructive sleep-disordered breathing: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

Active strategies such as myofunctional therapy (MFT) are increasingly proposed as important components in pediatric obstructive sleep disordered breathing (OSDB) management.

OBJECTIVES

To meta-analyze the impact of active strategies on objective sleep outcomes. The primary outcome was the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). Secondary outcomes were average and nadir SpO2.

METHODS

This review followed the PRISMA guidelines and was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42024614732). Literature searches were conducted on PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and PEDro up to January 6, 2026. Eligibility was restricted to studies examining active strategies as isolated interventions in pediatric OSDB. Risk of bias was assessed using RoB 2.0 tool and ROBINS-I V2. Effect sizes were expressed as mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and as mean change (MC) with 95% CI for non-randomized studies (nRCTs).

RESULTS

Eight articles investigating MFT (n = 7) and exercise (n = 1) were included, most of which had serious risks of bias. Studies predominantly included children with persistent OSDB post-surgery. Regarding RCTs, no statistically significant change was observed for MFT on AHI (4 studies, n = 174, MD: -1.68 (-3.61; 0.24), p = 0.07) or average SpO2 (2 studies, n = 108, MD: 0.38 (-6.67; 7.43), p = 0.62). Only one RCT reported SpO2 nadir. Among nRCTs, no significant change was found for MFT on AHI (3 studies, n = 38, MC: -0.81 (-3.28; 1.67), p = 0.30) or SpO2 nadir (2 studies, n = 29, MC: 1.04 (-0.62; 2.71), p = 0.08). Only one nRCT reported average SpO2.

CONCLUSION

Currently, no evidence supports isolated, active strategies as first-line treatment for pediatric OSDB.