THE EFFICACY OF PARENT-BASED SLEEP EDUCATION IN IMPROVING SLEEP PATTERN IN CHILDREN WITH SEIZURE DISORDER: A RANDOMISED CONTROL TRIAL

Christina Sara Mathew, Divya Prabash, M. C. Mathew, Anna Mathew*, Miriam Rainu Kuruvilla and John Michael Raj

ABSTRACT

Every year approximately 1920 children visit the Developmental Paediatrics outpatient service of this tertiary care hospital and 70% have seizure disorder of whom 67.18% also have sleep disorders. Purpose: To assess the role of parent education in improving sleep in children with seizure disorder to answer the research question does a parent-based behaviour-modification educational module improve sleep outcomes in these children. Methods: Consenting parent-child pairs were serially enrolled to this parallel group, single blind, randomized controlled trial if they fulfilled the selection criteria. They were randomized, with allocation concealment, to the interventional group or the comparator group by computer generated permuted block randomisation. Parents allocated to Group A were administered an educational module comprising of sleep education, behaviour modification strategies and instruction in maintaining a sleep diary. Parents allocated to Group B received standard care. The Family Inventory of Sleep Habits (FISH) and Sleep Disturbance Scale in Children (SDSC), administered before and after the intervention, by a blinded assessor, were used to assess changes in sleep profile. Results: Of the 73 parent-child pairs who were recruited, 64 completed the study. Most of the children (56%) were diagnosed to have generalized onset of seizures by the ILEA classification. The pre- and post- FISH and SDSC scores were compared using the Mann Whitney U-test. Parent-based education brought about positive change in sleep pattern of children with seizure disorder significantly (P= >0.005) improving scores in the SDSC and the FISH scales. Conclusion: Parent-based sleep education and behaviour modification improves sleep pattern in children with seizure disorder.

Keywords: Seizure, epilepsy, sleep disorders, sleep hygiene, habits, sleep latency, sleep education.