Statistical Analysis
Demographics, clinical parameters, and prevalence of comorbidities
between the two groups were analyzed using Mann Whitney U test for
continuous variables and Chi-Square tests, with Fisher’s Exact test
being used to verify results when cell counts were small, for
categorical variables. Comparison of polysomnographic parameters was
performed between children with and without HF using analysis of
covariance (ANCOVA) adjusting for age at time of sleep study. We
performed Pearson correlation between OAI as well as CAI with
echocardiogram parameters. Furthermore, we analyzed the relationship
between LogCAI and age at time of sleep study using Pearson correlation
coefficient. Finally, we compared demographic and echocardiographic
parameters in children with normal CAI and children with elevated CAI.
All analytic assumptions were verified, and all analyses were performed
using SPSS v26 statistical software (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp). In this
pilot study we sought to determine the relationship between CSA and HF,
so sample size was limited to the small number of patients meeting
inclusion criteria.