Children’s poor sleep is associated with obesity, academic problems, suicide attempts, and other mental health concerns, but the issue is not consistently addressed in pediatric primary care. A new well-child-visit screening tool for primary care clinicians (PCCs) appears to help boost diagnosis and referrals, according to findings from a study published in JAMA Network Open .
Ariel A. Williamson, PhD, with The Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health, University of Oregon, Portland, Oregon, and colleagues tested an electronic, age-based sleep screener that evaluated infant bed sharing, snoring three nights a week, short sleep time, perceived sleep problems, and adolescent daytime sleepiness.
The researchers conducted a retrospective, observational case-control study in the