Pharmacologic Management of Insomnia with Sleep Apnea

Registration Options

Activity Dates: 05/10/2021 - 04/20/2024

Sign in (or create a FREE account) to register or access your existing registrations

Target Audience

This course is designed for pharmacists, nurse practitioners or other health care professionals involved in the comprehensive medication management of psychiatric and/or neurological patients.

Session Summary

Insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea are often comorbid conditions that are seen in clinical practice. Both disorders are associated with several adverse health consequences, and when combined may increase cumulative morbidity and be associated with a greater illness severity. Hypnotic medications used to treat insomnia may exacerbate sleep apnea and benzodiazepines are associated with increasing the risk of acute respiratory failure in this patient population. However, other medications like trazodone and eszopiclone have been used to increase the arousal threshold and reduce obstructive sleep apnea severity. Currently, there are no guidelines on the treatment of insomnia with comorbid sleep apnea and the evidence is minimal. The gold standard treatment of insomnia is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia but it is often not available or the patients are resistant to trying this treatment modality. This leads to many practitioners using pharmacotherapy for the management of insomnia. The first-line treatments for obstructive sleep apnea are weight reduction for overweight/obese patients and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Some patients may notice an improvement in sleep with CPAP therapy but others continue to experience symptoms of insomnia or sleep is potentially worsened due to discomfort with the CPAP device. Many practitioners are unsure how to most effectively and safely treat sleep complaints in this situation. The co-incidence of insomnia with obstructive sleep apnea can be challenging to manage. Psychiatric pharmacists could be ideally positioned to identify appropriate pharmacotherapy or recommend alternative treatment modalities and reduce the pharmacologic burden and risks in this patient population. This session is designed to provide the evidence around the treatment of insomnia in patients with comorbid sleep apnea.

Course Requirements

You will proceed through the following steps to satisfactorily complete this course:

  • Sign in (or create a FREE account).
  • Register for this course.
  • Review the full content of the activity and reflect upon its teachings.
  • Complete the post-test at the end of the activity no later than the closing activity date.
  • Complete the evaluation at the end of the activity.
  • If necessary, complete the post-test retest no later than the closing activity date.
  • Receive a passing grade (70%).
  • Provide the necessary details in your profile to ensure correct reporting by AAPP to CPE Monitor.

Upon successful completion, ACPE credit is reported within 24 hours to CPE Monitor although transcripts can be retrieved by participants online in their ACPE Transcript.

Faculty Information

Elayne D. Ansara, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP

View biographical information

Learning Objectives

  1. Recommend strategies to improve adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea and co-morbid insomnia.
  2. Evaluate the risks and/or benefits of sedative-hypnotics for treatment of insomnia in patients with co-morbid obstructive sleep apnea.
  3. Create a pharmacologic treatment plan for management of insomnia in a patient with co-morbid obstructive sleep apnea who has tried and failed non-pharmacologic interventions.

Continuing Education Credit and Disclosures

Activity Dates: 05/10/2021 - 04/20/2024
ACPE Contact Hours: 1
ACPE Number: 0284-0000-21-006-H01-P (Application)
Nursing Credit Reminder: Note that ACPE credit is accepted for ANCC Certification Renewal and AANPCB advanced practice provider content. For specific questions related to your organization's acceptance of ACPE continuing education units, please contact your organization directly.

ACPEThe College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education.

View AAPP's Privacy Policy

AAPP owns the copyright, is licensed or has received permissions for use of, or is otherwise permitted to use copyrighted materials within any CPE activity. Authors and speakers are required to obtain necessary copyright permissions for content in CPE activities. AAPP complies with copyright laws and regulations.

Questions? Contact AAPP.