Excessive Sleepiness: Recognition, Diagnosis, and Management

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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 rated 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 program 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.

Learning Objectives

After completing this activity, the participant will be able to:

• Improve recognition of sleep-wake disturbances and identify comorbid sleep, psychiatric, neurologic, or medical etiology of these disturbances.
• Develop an appropriate management plan for sleep-related problems that may incorporate nonpharmacologic or pharmacologic strategies, as well as referral to local sleep specialists.

CME Accreditation/Designation Statement

Primary Care Network, Inc. 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 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Target Audience:

This activity is targeted to all physicians and other healthcare professionals who treat patients with sleep-wake disorder.

Release date: March 1, 2008
Expiration date: February 28, 2009

Medium: Podcast

Acknowledgement of Commercial Support:

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

Sponsored by CME Outfitters, LLC

Method of Participation:

IIn order to receive CME credit for this activity, you need to review program.  Upon finishing the online CME, complete the post-test, evaluation, and fill out all required personal information. To receive your CME certificate you will need to pass the post-test with 70% accuracy or better.

Post-test and Evaluation:

After completing this activity, click on the Post-test button at the end of the program. If you receive less than 70% on the post-test, you will be returned to the beginning of the activity to review the presentation again. Upon successful completion of the post-test, you will be asked to fill out a program evaluation form and prompted to print your CME certificate.

PCN Disclosure Policy:

It is the policy of Primary Care Network, Inc. to ensure fair balance, independence, objectivity, scientific rigor, and integrity in all of its CME activities. All Primary Care Network staff, faculty, or any other individual who is in a position to control the content of the CME activities sponsored by PCN are required to disclose to the participants any real or apparent conflict of interest related to the activity. Primary Care Network’s resolution of conflict of interest policy aims to ensure that all financial relationships with any commercial interests do not bias the design and delivery of this continuing medical education activity.

Content Providers & Disclosures

Michelle Ostrander, PhD
Medical Program Manager
CME Outfitters, LLC
Rockville, MD

Sharon Tordoff
Managing Partner, Content
CME Outfitters, LLC
Rockville, MD

Disclosures: Dr. Ostrander and Ms. Tordoff declare that neither they nor any immediate family member has a financial interest, arrangement, or affiliation with any organization(s) that may have a direct interest in the subject matter of this continuing medical education presentation.

Faculty & Disclosures

Christopher Drake, PhD
Senior Scientist
Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Detroit, MI

Disclosures: Dr. Drake discloses he receives honoraria from sanofi-aventis. He serves as a consultant for Cephalon, Inc., Pfizer, Inc. and Sepracor Inc. He serves on the speaker’s bureau for Sepracor Inc. and is on the advisory board of Pfizer Inc.

Mary O’Malley, MD, PhD
Fellowship Director, Program in Sleep Medicine
Norwalk Hospital
Norwalk, CT
Clinical Instructor, Department of Psychiatry
New York University Medical Center
New York, NY

Disclosures: Dr. O’Malley discloses she serves on the speaker’s bureau for Cephalon, Inc.

Unlabeled Use Declaration:

During this activity, speakers may discuss an unlabeled use or an investigational use not approved for a commercial support. Each author is required to disclose this information to the participants when referring to an unlabeled or investigational use.

PCN Staff Disclosures:

The Employees of Primary Care Network have no financial relationships to disclose.

When finished, click here to take the Post-test

Take the post-test to receive your CME certificate