Suppose you have been hired by a sleep clinic to formulate a

Suppose you have been hired by a sleep clinic to formulate a questionnaire for evaluating patients’ sleep habits. List 10 questions you would include in your questionnaire. Explain your rationale for each question.

Solution

In order to evaluate a patients sleep habits we would need to ask more than ten questions , however I have listed 13 questions which are very important to ask.

1.Standard demographic information such as age, height, weight, sex, occupation(Rationale- Sleep patterns may vary according to age , sex and BMI, occupation)

2. Do you have any of the following medical conditions , if yes please mention the medications being used

(Rationale- These conditions are known to influence sleep patterns or risk of obstructive sleep apnea. Information on medication is important to determine if they make the patient drowsy)

Below question focus on lifestyle factors which are important while evaluating sleep habits (they may act as confounders)

3. Are you married?

4.Do you drink coffee, tea, caffeinated drinks? (Rationale- caffeine is known to influence sleep patterns.)

5.Do you exercise daily?

6.Do drink alcohol? if yes, how often

7. Do smoke? is yes how often

Following question focus on sleep history which will help evaluate the sleeping habits

8. What time do you usually sleep and wake up?

9. How often do you wake up in the night and why?

10. Do you nap during the day ? if yes, do you

In order to determine whether the patient has risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea below questions focus on snoring, fatigue, daytime tiredness,

11. Do you snore?

12. Have you fallen asleep while driving?

13. Are you tired or sleepy most of the days?