Facilitating Access to Sleep Apnoea Screening and Treatment in Spinal Cord Injury (FASST-SCI)

The FASST-SCI project will determine the feasibility of a physiotherapy-led, respiratory physician-supported, outpatient model of managing obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). The two year project will be conducted in two state-wide spinal cord injury services: the Victorian Spinal Cord Service (VSCS) and the Queensland Spinal Cord Injuries Service (QSCIS).

Background:  Three in four people living with spinal cord injury have sleep apnoea. Obstructive sleep apnoea is a disorder where breathing stops or reduces for short periods of time during sleep, causing oxygen levels to drop, and the person to wake up momentarily until breathing starts again. This happens over and over again throughout the night, leading to disrupted sleep and daytime impairments. Evidence-based treatments are available, yet less than 20% of people are diagnosed and treated. This represents an enormous unmet need in spinal cord injury care, and a failure of current care models to ensure equal access.

Project update: The FASST-SCI team commenced participant recruitment this month, with a 6 month recruitment period expected.