Introducing the Sleep Disorders Symptom Checklist-25: A Primary Care Friendly and Comprehensive Screener for Sleep Disorders

Background and Objective With sleep disorders highly prevalent and associated with poor health outcomes, screening for sleep disorders in primary care could reduce the burden of chronic diseases and costs of health care. Currently, a brief comprehensive primary-care-friendly multiple-sleep-disorders screening instrument is not available. The Sleep Disorders Symptom Checklist (SDS-CL)-17, a single-page instrument, was developed to screen for six sleep disorders (insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome/periodic limb movement disorder, circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders, narcolepsy, and parasomnias) and evaluated psychometrically. SDS-CL-17 psychometrics are reported. The resulting development of a more comprehensive single-page 25-item instrument, the SDS-CL-25, based on validation study results is described. Approaches for clinical use of the SDS-CL-25 are recommended. Methods A cross-sectional study using nested data from two previous research studies (n = 395 sleep clinic referrals and n = 299 community volunteers) was used. SDS-CL-17 subscale scores and physician diagnoses were analysed using receiver operator characteristic curves. Resulting cut-point scores determined sensitivities/specificities. Study subject interview data were used to assess patient-friendliness of the instrument. Results Sensitivities/specificities for the diagnosed sleep disorders ranged from 0.64 to 0.88. Interviewees endorsed the instrument as user-friendly. Conclusions While the SDS-CL-17 is useful, the SDS-CL-25 assesses for a much larger number of sleep disorders yet retains brevity and is therefore recommended for ongoing clinical use. Psychometric evaluation of the SDS-CL-25 continues.