Sleep disorders screening questionnaires in primary care of adults: A systematic review of the literature
Authors:
Klingman, K.J., Jungquist, C.R., Dickerson, S.S., and Perlis, M.
Abstract:
Introduction: Minimizing the devastating personal and societal impacts of sleep disorders requires early detection and treatment thus falls under the umbrella of primary care. When primary care providers assess for sleep disorders, they typically under-detect. Using a reliable and valid sleep disorder screening questionnaire could remedy this situation. However, availability of questionnaires that can screen for multiple disorders without sacrificing productivity in busy adult primary care practices is unknown. Methods: A systematic review of the literature for ten-minute-or-shorter self-report questionnaires that screen for six sleep disorders was performed. Included questionnaires were assessed for correspondence with diagnostic criteria, validity of scoring strategies, and gen-eralizability to the adult primary care population. Results: None of the seven identified questionnaires have both ten-minute completion time and coverage of six sleep disorders. One brief questionnaire covered five disorders, and another covered six disorders but would require more than twenty minutes to complete. Criteria for an ideal questionnaire targeting primary care comprise n = 15 items that encompass thoroughness, efficiency, content validity, criterion validity, and generalizability to adult primary care population are presented. Though two of the questionnaires meet half of the ideal criteria, neither can be completed in ten minutes or less. Conclusion: Unavailability of a single accurate reliable self-report questionnaire that can screen for six common sleep disorders likely contributes to the under-detection of sleep disorders in primary care settings. A questionnaire meeting to-be-established specifications for sleep disorder screening in primary care of adults should be developed and rolled-out with education to primary care providers