The prevalence and factors associated with snoring and habitual snoring in Asian children are largely unknown. Our objectives were to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with snoring and habitual snoring in preschool and primary school children in Singapore. A self-response questionnaire on snoring was administered to parents of children aged 4-7 years in randomly selected preschools and primary schools in Singapore. The overall response rate was 91.3% (nt = 11,114). Snoring and habitual snoring were reported in 28.1% and in 6.0% of the children, respectively. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, snoring was significantly associated with male gender, race, atopy (asthma, allergic rhinitis, or atopic dermatitis), maternal atopy (allergic rhinitis or atopic dermatitis), maternal smoking, and breastfeeding. Habitual snoring was significantly associated with obesity (odds ratio (OR), 3.75; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.67-8.42), allergic rhinitis (OR, 2.90; 95% CI, 2.06-4.08), atopic dermatitis (OR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.28-2.54), maternal smoking (OR, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.09-4.53), and breastfeeding (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.11-1.98). Atopy was the strongest risk factor for habitual snoring, and the effect was cumulative. The odds ratio of a child with all three atopic diseases (asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis) to have habitual snoring was 7.45 (95% CI, 3.48-15.97). In conclusion, snoring and habitual snoring are common in Asian children. Atopy is strongly associated with snoring and habitual snoring. We suggest that children who are significantly atopic receive additional attention during screening for snoring, habitual snoring, and other features of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Background and Aims: Over the past few decades, the prevalence of asthma has been increasing in the industrialised world. Despite the suggestion of a similar increase in Singapore, the 12 month prevalence of wheeze among schoolchildren in 1994 was 2.5-fold less than that reported in western populations. It was hypothesised that with increasing affluence in Singapore, the asthma prevalence would further increase and approach Western figures. A second ISAAC survey was carried out seven years later to evaluate this hypothesis. Methods: The cross-sectional data from two ISAAC questionnaire based surveys conducted in 1994 (n = 6238) and in 2001 (n = 9363) on two groups of schoolchildren aged 6-7 and 12-15 years were compared. The instruments used were identical and the procedures standardised in both surveys. Results: Comparing data from both studies, the change in the prevalence of current wheeze occurred in opposing directions in both age groups-decreasing in the 6-7 year age group (16.6% to 10.2%) but increasing to a small extent in the 12-15 year age group (9.9% to 11.9%). The 12 month prevalence of rhinitis did not change; there was an increase in the current eczema symptoms in both age groups. Conclusion: The prevalence of current wheeze, a surrogate measure of asthma prevalence, has decreased significantly in the 6-7 year age group. Eczema was the only allergic disease that showed a modest increase in prevalence in both age groups.

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Introduction Access to cognitive assessments for children living remotely is limited. Telehealth represents a potential cost- and time-effective solution. A pilot study was conducted to determine the feasibility of telehealth to assess cognitive function in children with learning difficulties. Methods Thirty-three children (median age = 9 years 11 months), recruited from the New South Wales (NSW) Centre for Effective Reading, underwent assessment of intellectual ability. Comparisons were made between the intellectual ability index scores obtained by a psychologist sitting face-to-face with the children and another psychologist via telehealth using a web-based platform, Coviu. Results The telehealth administration method yielded comparable results to the face-to-face method. Correlation analyses showed high associations between the testing methodologies on the intellectual ability indices (correlation coefficient range = 0.981-0.997). Discussion Findings indicate that telehealth may be an alternative to face-to-face cognitive assessment. Future work in a broader range of cognitive tests and wider range of clinical populations is warranted.