Education
Committee

In an ephemeral 21st society there is an unmet need for healthcare providers, parents, and youth to increase their knowledge concerning the importance of sleep. Because healthy sleep goes well beyond the diagnosis of a sleep disorder, the consultancy provided should be scientifically based expertise.

In order to help address this need, the IPSA created a Taskforce working on the following goals:

  • Identify the educational needs of the IPSA membership
  • Provide educational material for the clinicians and researchers
  • Provide educational material for parents, youth, and the general public

Global Call for Enhanced Pediatric Sleep Education

Insights from the International Pediatric Sleep Association

111 respondents from 39 different countries self-identified:

  • 21.5% as sleep physicians
  • 19% as pediatricians
  • 14.1% as sleep researchers
  • 8.3% as child neurologists
  • 5.9% as pediatric pulmonologists
  • <5% of respondents represented each of several other healthcare disciplines: pediatric otolaryngologists/ENTs, psychologists, coaches/consultants, nurses, child psychiatrists, sleep technicians, dentists and neuroscientists

58.6% of the respondents screen for sleep issues when:

  • bedtime behaviors and routines
  • daytime dysfunction resulting from poor sleep
  • daytime sleepiness
  • sleep-disordered breathing
  • insomnia
  • restless sleep
  • sleep environment
  • NREM parasomnias
  • REM parasomnias
  • cataplexy and other issues
  • behavioral problems
  • daytime somnolence
  • hyperactivity
  • poor school performance
  • inattentiveness
  • difficulty getting to school due to tiredness
  • neurodevelopmental disorders/intellectual disabilities
  • allergic disease
  • emotional problems
  • asthma
  • psychiatric disorders
  • epilepsy
  • other conditions

The barriers to screening for sleep issues:

  • 33.3% indicated no barriers

  • 27.8% time constraints

  • 19.4% a lack of information for healthcare providers or families

  • 5.6% facility limitations

  • 11.1% a lack of therapeutic or diagnostic protocols

  • 2.8% noted other barriers.

Educational sources and training

primary sources

  • 31.2% professional organizations
  • 23.9% the internet
  • 18% commercial advertisements
  • 14.5% books
  • 8.9% articles/journals
  • 2.2% university/residency training
  • 1.1% conferences
  • 0.3% colleagues

updates

  • 75.7% relied on pediatric sleep issues via websites
  • 24.3% considered the information very reliable to reliable, while…
  • 11.7% considered it unreliable to very unreliable, with…
  • 38.7% holding a neutral position

formal training

  • 70.3% received formal sleep training
  • 27.0% received informal training
  • 2.7% received no formal sleep training
  • 50.5% received no sleep education or training during their undergraduate studies
  • 30.6% no sleep education or training during their graduate studies
  • 7.2% during their doctoral studies or professional training
  • 3.6% no sleep education or training in continuing education activities

Needs

Behavioral sleep issues, interventions, and treatments; sleep in neuro developmental and intellectual disabilities; infant sleep; adolescent sleep; circadian rhythm disorders; child sleep