Sleep disordered breathing (SDB), which ranges from mild snoring to severe obstructive sleep apnea, impacts up to 17% of all children and is a significant public health concern. Untreated SDB is associated with significant risks to child health and well-being, including child neurobehavioral problems, hypertension, and obesity. Despite the robust evidence base for treating SDB, there are notable racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in its prevalence and treatment; even when SDB is identified in primary care visits, referral rates to specialty care are extremely low.
This is a randomized controlled trial of the Sleep PASS program, with the primary objectives to (1) determine the feasibility and acceptability of CDS for SDB in primary care, and (2) determine the feasibility and acceptability of Sleep Navigation for patients with SDB who meet criteria for further clinical evaluation. The secondary objective is to examine the initial efficacy of CDS and Sleep Navigation on referral rates and rates of referral completion for SDB-related specialty care, caregiver SDB knowledge, and child sleep for patients with SDB who meet criteria for further clinical evaluation. Up to 200 caregiver-child dyads with a child (ages 2 years 0 months to \< 18 years) who has been screened for SDB symptoms in Children's Hospital of Philadelphia primary care and meets criteria for further clinical evaluation will be recruited. Up to 70 primary care clinicians will also be recruited.
Eligible and interested caregiver-child dyads will be randomly assigned to the intervention condition (CDS with Sleep Navigation) or to the CDS only condition. The Sleep Navigation program will involve 1-3 meetings, conducted virtually, in-person, or via telephone, between the Sleep Navigator (SN) and the participating family. The SN will provide: SDB and sleep health psychoeducation using Patient-Family Education handouts and videos that are currently part of usual care practices; Care coordination for scheduling of specialty care referral(s) for clinical SDB evaluation; Problem-solving for family-identified barriers to accessing specialty care; and Motivational interviewing to enhance family engagement, communication, and collaboration with the family's medical team.
Study procedures involves medical record review, caregiver- and child-completed questionnaires, clinician-completed questionnaires, interviews, and Navigator sessions (for the Intervention condition). Following sleep screening as part of well child visit care, electronic health records and the sleep screener will be reviewed for eligibility. Eligible and interested participants will be scheduled for a baseline assessment visit that occurs in-person or electronically and includes informed consent (or e-consent), random assignment to the intervention condition (CDS with Sleep Navigation) or to the CDS only condition, and completion of baseline measures. The intervention group will start receiving the Sleep Navigation program 1-2 weeks following baseline assessment. The CDS only condition will be directed to follow up with their primary care clinician as needed. Post-intervention and follow-up assessment will occur within 8 months of baseline questionnaire completion. Clinicians will complete questionnaires at the post-intervention phase. Randomly selected caregiver-child dyads in the intervention condition and clinicians will be invited to participate in qualitative interviews.
