Promoting healthy sleep in 0-2-year-old infants : a study protocol for the development and mixed method evaluation of a sleep health program tailored to Dutch youth healthcare regions

Background: Sleep problems are common among infants and can have a serious impact on the health and wellbeing of both child and parents. To sustainably promote infant sleep on a population level, it is necessary to develop evidence-based programs that can be implemented on a large scale. The Youth Health Care setting, with its focus on prevention, child health promotion and services widely available for parents, can be a suitable setting to do so. Currently however, sleep health promotion in this setting seems to be suboptimal. To promote healthy infant sleep on a population level, programs need to be accessible and comprehensible for all parents, including parents with limited (health) literacy. Therefore, this study aims to develop, implement and evaluate a program called ‘Sleep on number 1’, that is tailored to Dutch Youth Health Care, to sustainably promote healthy sleep in 0-2-year-old infants. Methods: The program was developed based on co-creation with parents and Youth Health Care professionals, evidence-based behaviour change theories and sleep health promotion methods. Program effectiveness is investigated with a quasi-experimental study design comparing the program group with the care as usual control group. Participants consist of parents of 0-2-year-old children. Primary outcome is infant sleep quality at the age of 10 weeks and 6, 9, 14 and 24 months, measured with a sleep diary. The primary data analysis focuses on night awakenings at 9 months. Secondary outcomes focus on parental behaviour regarding infant sleep, related behavioural determinants and parental satisfaction with Youth Health Care sleep advice. Program effectiveness is analysed using a linear mixed-model in case of data clustering, and an independent samples T-test or linear regression in case no substantial clustering effects are found. A mixed methods process evaluation is performed with parents and Youth Health Care professionals, assessing program reach, adoption, implementation, maintenance and working mechanisms. Discussion: The ‘Sleep on number 1’ program is an evidence-based sleep health program for 0-2-year-old children, tailored to Dutch Youth Health Care. If effective, this program has the potential to improve infant sleep on a population level. Trial registration: ISRCTN, ISRCTN27246394, registered on 10/03/2023. https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN27246394.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: van de Sande, M.P.W., Gerards, S.M.P.L., L’Hoir, M.P., Gabrio, A., Reijs, R.P., Tissen, I., van Dam, S.W., Alberts, F.H.G.Y., Meertens, R.M.
Format: Article/Letter to editor biblioteca
Language:English
Subjects:Behaviour Therapy, Behavioural intervention, Child Development, Health Education, Intervention, Netherlands, Prevention, Primary Health Care, Sleep Wake disorders, Sleep problems,
Online Access:https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/promoting-healthy-sleep-in-0-2-year-old-infants-a-study-protocol-
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