Don’t let an exam question about sleep disorders keep you up at night! Defined as a recurrent, poor sleep quantity or quality that impairs a patient’s function, insomnia loves to pop up in SOOs and SAMPs.
The DSM-5 has over 20 sleep disorders listed; make sure you can list at least five!
An easy way to remember the broad categories of sleep disorders:
1) Not enough sleep (i.e. insomnia disorder)
2) Too much sleep (i.e. hypersomnolence disorder, narcolepsy)
3) Busy sleep (i.e. restless legs syndrome, obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea, nightmare disorder)
When referring a patient for a sleep study, remember that a Level 3 sleep study is done in the patient’s home with monitors for heart rate, oxygen levels and snoring. A Level 1 study (polysomnography) is a more intensive, overnight sleep study in a lab setting; measuring brain wave activity, limb movements, oxygen levels with electrocardiography.
Lastly, remember to always screen for depression with a PHQ-2:
“Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:
1. Little interest or pleasure in doing things?
2. Feeling down, depressed or hopeless?”