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 primary sleep disorders and medical and psychiatric disorders as causes 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

Karl Doghramji, MD
Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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