Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem (2006)
Chapter: Appendix A Study Process
A
Study Process
The committee reviewed and considered a broad array of information in its work on issues involving sleep disorder research. Information sources included the primary scientific literature, books and scientific reviews, and presentations from researchers, as well as representatives from federal agencies and academic, professional, and nonprofit organizations.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Extensive bibliographic searches were conducted, resulting in a reference database of more than 2,000 entries. Searches of the primary biomedical bibliographic databases, MEDLINE and EMBASE,1 were supplemented with searches of Dissertation Abstracts Online, LexisNexis, and THOMAS (a federal legislative database). The Dissertation Abstracts database provided information on the current level of Ph.D. thesis production in the field of sleep disorders.2
GRANT ANALYSIS
To identify information on funding mechanisms and trends from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Institute of Medicine (IOM) staff queried the Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects (CRISP) database. This database collects information on the number of federally funded biomedical research projects. Data from the CRISP database were used to assess the number of fellowships (F grants), career grants (K grants), research grants (e.g., R01 grants), project grants (P grants), training (T grants), cooperative agreements (U grants), and Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer awards funded by the NIH. To discern the number of NIH grants directed toward sleep-related research, IOM staff used appropriate keywords (which appeared in a 9,000-word thesaurus) for various sleep disorders, including: insomnia, periodic limb movement disorder, restless legs syndrome, circadian rhythm, sudden infant death syndrome, sleep disorder, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, sleep, hibernation, and dream. To limit the number of grants that were not relevant to somnology or sleep disorders the committee included only grants in which the keywords appeared in the thesaurus terms and not the abstract. Additional information on general funding trends at NIH was located in published documents and was provided by NIH staff.
PUBLIC WORKSHOPS
The committee held five meetings over the course of the study to address the study charge, review the data collected, and develop the report. Three of those meetings included public workshops: April 11–12, 2005; June 29–30, 2005; and September 15–16, 2005.
The first workshop (Box A-1) included three sessions that covered the public health significance of sleep deprivation and disorders, sleep deprivation and society, sleep apnea, and the impact of sleep deprivation and disorders on specific populations.
The committee held the second public workshop (Box A-2) in Washington, D.C. In that workshop the committee heard from 17 speakers who had expertise in surveillance and monitoring programs and technologies, model interdisciplinary programs, and training and education in sleep research.
The third meeting took place at the Jonsson Conference Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The public workshop (Box A-3) consisted of two sessions that included a review of results from a survey and commissioned paper on sleep and a discussion with Dr. Charles Czeisler, director of Harvard Medical School’s Division of Sleep Medicine and president-elect of the Sleep Research Society.
Session II: Sleep Deprivation and Society
Session III: Sleep Apnea
Session IV: Impact of Sleep Deprivation and Disorders on Specific Populations
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BOX A-2 Institute of Medicine Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research June 29–30, 2005 June 29, 2005
Surveillance Programs and Technologies
June 30, 2005 Organizational Impediments
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Model Interdisciplinary Programs
Training and Education
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BOX A-3 Institute of Medicine Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research September 15–16, 2005 September 15, 2005
September 16, 2005
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