Does the 'Sleep on number 1' intervention changes practices of Youth Health Care professionals in their sleep communication and advice to parents of young children?

ISRCTN ISRCTN26489304
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN26489304
ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT) Nil known
Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) Nil known
Protocol serial number Nil known
Sponsor ZonMw, The Dutch Organisation for knowledge and innovation in health, healthcare and well-being
Funder Universiteit Maastricht
Submission date
11/07/2025
Registration date
14/07/2025
Last edited
14/07/2025
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Other
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data
Record updated in last year

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
Sleep problems are common in young children (0 - 2 years old) and parents often have difficulties managing their infant’s sleep. However, sleep problems are not always discussed by nurses and doctors during appointments at Youth Health Care centers. This study investigates whether the ‘Sleep on number 1!’ intervention leads to improved discussion of sleep problems in Youth Health Care.

Who can participate?
There are not really individuals participating in this study, as only child record data are studied. Child records are provided by three Youth Health Care centers: two intervention regions that implemented the ‘Sleep on Number 1!' intervention and one control region. Records of children born to first-time mothers before and after the intervention, are studied.

What does the study involve?
Child records from Youth Health Care centers are studied to determine whether Youth Health Care professionals in intervention regions show greater positive changes in attention for sleep and sleep advice to parents of young children from pre- to post-intervention, than Youth Health Care professionals in the control region.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The study contributes to improving sleep-related care in Youth Health Care by giving insight in the effectiveness of the 'Sleep on Number 1' intervention, and potentially enhancing the quality of support provided to parents. While there are no direct benefits for the participants, the findings could inform better practices for future patients. There are no anticipated risks for participants, as this is a retrospective study analyzing child records.

Where is the study run from?
Maastricht University (The Netherlands)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
Child records about at least seven months from 01/01/2018 and 01/10/2023 onwards will be extracted.

Who is funding the study?
ZonMw (The Netherlands)

Who is the main contact?
Dr Ree Meertens, r.meertens@maastrichtuniversity.nl

Contact information

Dr Ree Meertens
Public, Scientific, Principal investigator

P.O. Box 616
Maastricht
6200MD
Netherlands

ORCiD logoORCID ID 0000-0001-8424-9142
Phone +31 620425213
Email r.meertens@maastrichtuniversity.nl

Study information

Primary study designInterventional
Study designMulti-center interventional quasi-experimental patient record study no random assignment no masking
Secondary study designNon randomised study
Study type Participant information sheet
Scientific titleEffectiveness of the 'Sleep on number 1' intervention in changing sleep-related communication of Youth Health Care professionals to parents of young children: a quasi-experimental controlled child records study
Study objectives1. Compared to Youth Health Care (YHC) child records in the control region, YHC child records in intervention regions will show a stronger increase in sleep-related notes of YHC professionals from pre-intervention to post-intervention.
2. Compared to Youth Health Care (YHC) child records in the control region, YHC child records in intervention regions will show a stronger increase in sleep-related advice by YHC professionals from pre-intervention to post-intervention.
Ethics approval(s)

Approved 27/11/2020, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences Research Ethical Committee (FHML-REC) (FHML-REC (Department HES), Maastricht University, PO Box 616, Maastricht, 6200 MD, Netherlands; +31 (0)616333110; fhml-rec@maastrichtuniversity.nl), ref: FHML-REC/2020/091

Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedPromotion of healthy sleep practices in young children
InterventionThis study evaluates an intervention designed to improve the provision of sleep information and advice by YHC professionals in three youth health care regions. Two regions serve as intervention groups, while one serves as a control. The intervention is co-created with youth health care practitioners and informed by interviews with parents. For YHC professionals, the intervention consists of sleep-knowledge enhancing components (kick-off symposium and e-learning module), a skill-enhancing component (sleep communication training), and materials developed to enhance sleep communication with parents (two conversation cards accompanied by explaining clips, sleep diary, sleep plan). Parents are referred to infant sleep information and advice on the YHC internet site. In the control region, no interventional activities related to sleep are planned, neither addressing YHC professionals, nor the parents (no treatment, care as usual). Regions are pre-allocated to intervention or control groups, with no randomization of YHC professionals/ parents.
YHC child records are used to gather data from 0-7 months of age.
Intervention typeBehavioural
Primary outcome measure(s)

Attention for sleep by YHC professionals in contact moments with parents, measured by the frequency of sleep-related notes in YHC child records of children of first-time mothers, before and after the intervention during at least 7 months

Key secondary outcome measure(s)

1. Sleep advice provided by YHC professionals in contact moments with parents, measured by the frequency of sleep-related advice in YHC child records of children of first-time mothers, before and after the intervention, during at least 7 months
3. Sleep problems in children, measured by the frequency of sleep problem notes in YHC child records of children of first-time mothers, before and after the intervention, during at least 7 months

Completion date01/10/2025

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Other
Age groupChild
Lower age limit0 Months
Upper age limit24 Months
SexAll
Target sample size at registration6000
Key inclusion criteriaAll child records of children of first-time mothers in the study regions will be included, for the first 1000 children born in each study region from 01/01/2018 onwards (pre-test), and for the first 1000 children born from 01/10/2023 onwards (post-test).
Key exclusion criteriaNo exclusion criteria
Date of first enrolment01/01/2018
Date of final enrolment18/04/2024

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • Netherlands

Study participating centres

Public Health Center Limburg-North (GGD Limburg-Noord)
Drie Decembersingel 50
Venlo
5921 AC
Netherlands
Public Health Center Brabant South-East (GGD Brabant Zuid-Oost)
Clausplein 10
Eindhoven
5611 XP
Netherlands
Public Health Center South Limburg (GGD Zuid Limburg)
Het Overloon 2
Heerlen
6411 TE
Netherlands

Results and Publications

Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareYes
IPD sharing plan summaryStored in non-publicly available repository, Available on request
IPD sharing planThe datasets generated during and/or analysed during the study will be stored in a non-publicly available repository (DataHub Maastricht University) and will be available upon request from Ree Meertens (r.meertens@maastrichtuniversity.nl) via Maastricht University. The data will become available for a period of 10 years following publication. Stored data consists of anonymized data.

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Participant information sheet Participant information sheet 11/11/2025 11/11/2025 No Yes

Editorial Notes

11/07/2025: Trial's existence confirmed by ZonMw.