Primary Care Providers Urged to Use Sleep Disturbance Index to Rate Severity of Sleep Problems
Last year, a SafeMinds Shares article examined sleep pattern problems associated with autism. Our previous article reported that even though sleep issues are of critical importance, they are the least studied symptom on the spectrum. Now, a new brief report featured in Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders delivers practical advice to primary care providers who assess sleep disturbances in children with autism. In the report, the authors advocate for practitioners to use an online survey called the Composite Sleep Disturbance Index (CSDI). The advantage of using the CSDI is its ability to hone in on the degree of sleep problems children with autism are experiencing. Most doctors currently ask parents a single, high-level question about their children’s sleep patterns. The report’s authors state that CSDI’s more probing questions enable primary care providers to receive more precise information, resulting in more accurate sleep disorders diagnoses.
