Journal Club: Consider a contactless tool for monitoring sleep in Down’s syndrome

A contactless sleep monitoring tool—Sonomat—is a promising alternative to polysomnography (PSG) for screening sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in children with Down syndrome (DS), according to a study conducted in Australia.

The 56 participants, ranging in age from 2 to 17 years, underwent screening for SDB using both home-based Sonomat and in-hospital PSG monitoring. Parents of participants then completed 2 questionnaires about their experiences with the 2 technologies. Respondents indicated that airflow sensors were the most poorly tolerated PSG sensors, while 58% were unable to tolerate the nasal prongs and 37% the oronasal thermistor. In addition, 25% had issues tolerating electroencephalography leads. Parents also reported that they found using the PSG “hard” or “very hard,” though only 18% indicated that their child was unable to keep the PSG monitoring equipment attached for most of the night.

As to the Sonomat, all caregivers rated their experience with it as good, very good, or excellent. Most caregivers (76%) found the Sonomat very easy to use, and 67% reported that while using it, their child had a typical night’s sleep; this figure compared with 51% during in-hospital PSG. Nonetheless, of the 25 caregivers who completed home monitoring, only 14 preferred the Sonomat to in-hospital PSG, 2 preferred in-hospital PSG, 6 had no preference, and 3 were unsure.

THOUGHTS FROM DR. FARBER

These results need further validation; if confirmed, Sonomat should be a valuable tool. It is easy to manage and would reduce long waiting times for PSG. I assume the tool would also be helpful for children without trisomy 21.  Even if sensitivity is low, if specificity is high, it would at least be beneficial for screening.

Reference

Sclip K, Collaro A, Chawla J. Experiences of children with Down syndrome and caregivers using contactless sleep monitoring as polysomnography alternative. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2025; Jul 9.doi:10.1097/DBP.0000000000001396. Online ahead of print.