Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24978952›Full record

Trial reportPloS one2014

A comparison of screening methods for sleep disorders in Australian community pharmacies: a randomized controlled trial.

Joanne M Fuller, Keith K Wong, Ronald Grunstein, Ines Krass, Jayshree Patel, Bandana Saini

Abstract readComparative StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Joanne M FullerFaculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; The Centre for Integrated Research and Understanding of Sleep (CIRUS), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Keith K WongRoyal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia; The Centre for Integrated Research and Understanding of Sleep (CIRUS), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Ronald GrunsteinRoyal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia; The Centre for Integrated Research and Understanding of Sleep (CIRUS), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Ines KrassFaculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Jayshree PatelFaculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Bandana SainiFaculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; The Centre for Integrated Research and Understanding of Sleep (CIRUS), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCommunity pharmacies may potentially assist in screening for chronic conditions such as sleep disorders, which remain both under-diagnosed and untreated. We aimed to compare a subjective risk-assessment-only questionnaire (RAO) for common sleep disorder screening against the same risk-assessment questionnaire plus a nasal flow monitor as an objective marker of possible underlying obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) (RA+) in a community pharmacy setting. The primary outcome was the number of participants identified in RAO or RA+ group who were likely to have and consequently be diagnosed with OSA. Further outcomes included the number of participants identified as being at risk for, referred for, taking-up referral for, and then diagnosed with OSA, insomnia, and/or restless legs syndrome (RLS) in either group.

methodsIn a cluster-randomized trial, participants were recruited through 23 community pharmacies. Using validated instruments, 325 (RAO = 152, RA+ = 173) participants were screened for OSA, insomnia, and RLS.

findings218 (67%) participants were at risk of OSA, insomnia or RLS and these participants were referred to their primary physician. The proportion of screened participants identified as being at risk of OSA was significantly higher in the RA+ group (36% in RAO vs. 66% in RA+, OR 3.4, 95% CI (1.8-6.5), p<0.001). A 12-month follow-up was completed in 125 RAO and 155 RA+ participants. Actual referral uptake was 34% RAO, 26% RA+, OR 4.4, 95% CI (1.4-19.2), p = 0.31. The OSA diagnosis rate was higher in the RA+ arm (p = 0.01). To yield a single additional confirmed OSA diagnosis, 16 people would need to be screened using the RA+ protocol.

conclusionsThese results demonstrate that utilising either screening method is feasible in identifying individuals in the community pharmacy setting who are likely to have OSA, insomnia and/or RLS. Secondly, adding an objective marker of OSA to a questionnaire-based prediction tool resulted in more confirmed OSA diagnoses.

trial registrationACTR.org.au ACTRN12608000628347.

Indexed as

PharmaciesAustraliaDemographyFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMass ScreeningMiddle AgedPolysomnographyReferral and ConsultationRisk FactorsSleep Wake Disorders

Identifiers

PMID24978952
PMCPMC4076224

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.