Bridging the Educational Gap in Behavioral Sleep Medicine: Enhancing Primary Care Management of Sleep Disorders

Behav Sleep Med. 2026 Apr 20:1-10. doi: 10.1080/15402002.2026.2654067. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Primary care providers (PCPs) play a key role in addressing sleep-related issues such as insomnia but often lack training in sleep medicine. The UCI Train New Trainers (TNT) Primary Care Psychiatry Fellowship includes training on sleep disorder assessment and management. We evaluated the programs’ ability to enhance PCPs’ skills in identifying and managing behavioral sleep disorders.

METHODS: Case assessments were administered twice to fellows, at the start and end of an educational conference. Fellows selected four of ten listed psychiatric and sleep diagnoses for each case. Fellows also underwent pre-, mid-, and post-fellowship surveys to determine whether training was associated with changes in comfort diagnosing and treating sleep disorders.

RESULTS: Fellows showed a significant improvement in sleep disorder identification after training compared to before. They also reported significant improvement in comfort diagnosing insomnia, accuracy identifying circadian rhythm disorders, and comfortability administering CBT-I. Use of structured sleep assessments increased but remained less frequent than mood disorder screening tools.

CONCLUSION: Fellows exhibited increased comfort and competence in managing behavioral sleep medicine, particularly insomnia and circadian rhythm sleep disorders with brief didactic training. Further training in non-pharmacological treatments and greater use of standardized sleep assessments is warranted to optimize patient outcomes in primary care settings.

PMID:42003317 | DOI:10.1080/15402002.2026.2654067