Resource for managing sleep disorders
J. D. Kales, A. Kales, E. O. Bixler and C. R. Soldatos
To enhance physicians' knowledge of the prevalent problem of sleep
disorders, a 50-minute videotape program designed as a learning and
self-assessment experience in evaluating and treating these disorders was
coproduced with the Network for Continuing Medical Education. The program
has been presented nationally to about 25,000 medical professionals. The
mean correct score was 50% for the pretest, 69% for the instructional
section, and 79% for the posttest; the composite score on the posttest was
59% higher than that on the pretest. Physicians' responses indicated
strengths and weaknesses in their knowledge of sleep disorders, thus
delineating future directions for medical education in insomnia,
narcolepsy/cataplexy, nightmares, night terrors, sleepwalking, and
enuresis. All of these sleep disorders can be best evaluated and treated by
the general physician.
