Sleep Content in Entry-Level Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy Education: A National Survey

The purpose of this study was to determine the sleep evaluation and interventions content taught in entry-level OT and PT education programs.

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to determine sleep instructional practices. All accredited entry-level MOT, OTD, and DPT programs in the United States (n = 471) were invited to participate.

Ninety-three respondents completed the online survey for a 20% response rate. 91% reported informal sleep evaluation content, 42% reported formal sleep evaluation content, and 73% reported formal sleep interventions content is included in their curricula. The most selected reason for not teaching formal sleep evaluations was lack of faculty knowledge on the subject. The most selected number of hours spent teaching formal sleep evaluation and formal sleep intervention was 1 to 2 hours. A variety of sleep evaluations and interventions were being taught.

Most respondents reported teaching informal and formal sleep interventions, while less than half taught evaluation using standardized sleep instruments. While some instructional variability in sleep evaluation and sleep interventions is reasonable, the variability may indicate a need for standardized curricular guidelines for entry-level OT and PT programs on sleep evaluation and intervention content.