Statement of Need/Program Overview

Sleep-related disorders affect between 50 and 70 million Americans of all ages. A core symptom of sleep disturbances is excessive sleepiness, or difficulty maintaining wakefulness and an intense drive for sleep even under inappropriate circumstances. Excessive sleepiness can have far-reaching personal and societal impact including impaired interpersonal relationships, loss of productivity and increased rates of accidents. Isolating the etiology of excessive sleepiness is challenging for primary care practitioners, as this condition is associated not only with sleep-related disorders, but myriad other illnesses including neurologic, psychiatric and general medical conditions. This activity will provide practical strategies for the recognition and diagnosis of excessive sleepiness and will enable clinicians to implement an appropriate management plan that may include nonpharmacologic, pharmacologic, and specialty referral as options.

Educational Objectives

After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:

• Recognize and assess behavioral and circadian rhythm sleep disorders in patients presenting with the complaint of excessive daytime sleepiness

Target Audience

This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of family practitioners and primary care providers involved in the management of patients with sleep disorders.

Faculty

Michael J. Thorpy, MD
Sleep-Wake Disorders Center
Professor of Neurology
Montefiore Medical Center
Bronx, New York

Activity Sponsorship

This activity is sponsored by Primary Care Education.

The sponsor can be contacted online via: http://www.primarycareed.com

Accreditation/Designation Statement

Primary Care Network is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Primary Care Network designates this educational activity for a maximum of .25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.  Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Additional Activity Details

Media: Internet

Release date: March 1, 2010

Expiration date: March 1, 2011

Estimated time to complete activity: 0.25 hours

Acknowledgment of Commercial Support

This activity is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Cephalon, Inc.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Primary Care Network assesses conflict of interest with their instructors, planners, managers and other individuals who are in a position to control the content of CME activities. All relevant conflicts of interest that are identified are thoroughly vetted by PCN for fair balance, scientific objectivity of studies utilized in this activity, and patient care recommendations. PCN is committed to providing its learners with high quality CME activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest.

The faculty reported the following financial relationships or relationships to products or devices they or their spouse/life partner have with commercial interests related to the content of this CME activity:

Name of Faculty or Presenter	Reported Financial Relationship
Michael Thorpy, MD	Advisory Board: Cephalon, GlaxoSmithKline, Jazz, sanofi-aventis Consultant: Cephalon Speakers Bureau: Cephalon, Jazz, sanofi-aventis

Karl Doghramji, MD, reports the following financial relationships: Consultant: Azur, GlaxoSmithKline, sanofi-aventis, Sepracor; Speakers Bureau: Boehringer Ingelheim, Forest Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, Jazz, sanofi-aventis, Sepracor, Takeda; Stock/Shareholder: Merck

In accordance with PCN policy, all content is reviewed by external independent peer reviewers for balance, objectivity and commercial bias.  The peer reviewers, staff, and other individuals who control content have no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

The following PCN planner and manager, Sandy Bihlmeyer, MEd, CCMEP, hereby states that she or her spouse/life partner does not have any financial relationships or relationships to products or devices with any commercial interest related to the content of this activity of any amount during the past 12 months.

William C. Lloyd III, MD, hereby states that he or his spouse/life partner does not have any financial relationships or relationships to products or devices with any commercial interest related to the content of this activity of any amount during the past 12 months.

Method of Participation

There are no fees for participating and receiving CME credit for this activity. During the period March 2010 through March 2011, participants must 1) read the learning objectives and faculty disclosures; 2) study the educational activity; 3) complete the post-test by recording the best answer to each question in the online answer key; 4) complete the online evaluation form; 5) an online statement of credit will be issued immediately upon receipt of a completed activity evaluation form and a completed post-test with a score of 70% or better.

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use

This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. Primary Care Education, Primary Care Network, and Cephalon, Inc., do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications. 

The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of Primary Care Education, Primary Care Network, and Cephalon, Inc. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer

Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient’s conditions and possible contraindications on dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.

Technical Requirements

• A broadband internet connection
• Operating system: Microsoft Windows 98 or later; Mac OS X
• Web browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later; Mozilla Firefox 1.5 or later; Apple Safari
• Adobe Flash Player 9.0 or later (Available at: get.adobe.com/flashplayer/)

Bibliography

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• Durmer JS, Dinges DF. Neurocognitive consequences of sleep deprivation. Semin Neurol. 2005;25:117-129.
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