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Abstracts
O8 A cross-sectional survey of clinicians’ experiences of addressing the topic of sleep in children and young people with epilepsy
  1. Georgia Cook1,
  2. Lucy Bray2,
  3. Bernie Carter2,
  4. Paul Gringras3,4,
  5. Christopher Morris5,
  6. Deb Pal3,4,6,7,
  7. Holly Saron2 and
  8. Catrin Tudur-Smith8
  1. 1Centre for Psychological Research, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
  2. 2Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK
  3. 3Evelina London Children’s Hospital, London, UK
  4. 4Kings College London, London, UK
  5. 5PenCRU (Peninsula Childhood Disability Research Unit), University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
  6. 6Basic and Clinical Neuroscience Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, London, UK
  7. 7MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King’s College London, London, UK
  8. 8Liverpool Clinical Trials Centre, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

Abstract

Introduction Children and young people (CYP) with epilepsy consult clinicians for management of their seizures but may require advice and support with a range of broader topics, including sleep. However, understanding of clinicians’ perspectives of providing this support is limited. This study aimed to identify, from clinicians, the extent to which they are asked about sleep in clinical appointments by CYP with epilepsy and their parents/carers and, further, to establish how equipped clinicians feel to support families around this topic.

Method As part of a wider cross-sectional online survey, 88 UK-based clinicians who worked with CYP (aged 0–18 years) with epilepsy and their parents/carers were asked about their experiences of supporting and advising around child sleep. Quantitative and qualitative data were generated.

Results The final sample was predominantly consultants and epilepsy specialist nurses based in England. Child sleep was reported as a topic raised frequently by both CYP (51.2%) and parents (84.1%) in clinic. Although only about 50% of clinicians felt able to provide support about sleep. Commonly reported challenges in being able to provide advice or signposting about sleep included lack of specific training in this area and lack of sufficient time during clinic appointments. Clinicians suggested that sleep resources for parents/carers and for CYP with epilepsy would be useful. Clinicians felt that they could benefit from training, information or resources to support their practice related to child sleep.

Discussion Sleep is an important topic for CYP with epilepsy and their parents. The results of this study suggest that many clinicians may not be equipped to meet the needs of families in this area. Informational resources about sleep (for CYP, parents and clinicians) could be useful and offer the potential to mitigate, although not overcome, some of the existing challenges.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjresp-2023-BSSconf.8

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