Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Primary Care: Screening, Diagnosis, and Management

Overview

Strengthen your approach to recognizing and managing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in primary care. This activity explores practical strategies for screening, diagnosis, and evidence-based treatment, helping you address common challenges, make more confident care decisions, and integrate OSA management into routine practice to improve patient outcomes.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize the diverse clinical presentations of OSA and the cardiometabolic consequences of untreated disease
• Apply guideline-directed screening criteria and validated tools to identify patients at high risk for OSA, and select appropriate diagnostic pathways based on patient complexity
• Evaluate evidence-based treatment options for OSA—including PAP as first-line therapy—and counsel patients on expected mechanisms and timelines of benefit
• Implement practical strategies for OSA management in primary care, including evidence-based approaches to improve PAP acceptance and adherence, criteria for specialist referral, and integration of OSA care into chronic disease management