The resulting diplomate status is recognized by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), and these dentists are organized in the Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (USA).Occupational therapy is an area of medicine that can also address a diagnosis of sleep disorder, as rest and sleep is listed in the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF) as its own occupation of daily living. Rest and sleep are described as restorative in order to support engagement in other occupational therapy occupations. In the OTPF, the occupation of rest and sleep is broken down into rest, sleep preparation, and sleep participation. Occupational therapists have been shown to help improve restorative sleep through the use of assistive devices/equipment, cognitive behavioral therapy for Insomnia, therapeutic activities, and/or lifestyle interventions.In the UK, knowledge of sleep medicine and possibilities for diagnosis and treatment seem to lag. The Imperial College Healthcare shows attention to obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) and very few other sleep disorders. Some NHS trusts have specialist clinics for respiratory and/or neurological sleep medicine. Epidemiology
Children and young adults
According to one meta-analysis of sleep disorders in children, confusional arousals and sleepwalking are the two most common sleep disorders among children. An estimated 17.3% of kids between 3 and 13 years old experience confusional arousals. About 17% of children sleepwalk, with the disorder being more common among boys than girls, the peak ages of sleepwalking are from 8 to 12 years old.A different systematic review offers a high range of prevalence rates of sleep bruxism for children.
Those passing the Sleep Medicine Specialty Exam received the designation "diplomate of the ABSM." Sleep medicine is now a recognized subspecialty within internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, otolaryngology, psychiatry and neurology in the United States. Certification in Sleep medicine shows that the specialist:"has demonstrated expertise in the diagnosis and management of clinical conditions that occur during sleep, that disturb sleep, or that are affected by disturbances in the wake-sleep cycle. This specialist is skilled in the analysis and interpretation of comprehensive polysomnography, and well-versed in emerging research and management of a sleep laboratory." Competence in sleep medicine requires an understanding of a myriad of very diverse disorders. Many of which present with similar symptoms such as excessive daytime sleepiness, which, in the absence of volitional sleep deprivation, "is almost inevitably caused by an identifiable and treatable sleep disorder", such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, Kleine–Levin syndrome, menstrual-related hypersomnia, idiopathic recurrent stupor, or circadian rhythm disturbances. Another common complaint is insomnia, a set of symptoms which can have a great many different causes, physical and mental. Management in the varying situations differs greatly and cannot be undertaken without a correct diagnosis.Sleep dentistry (bruxism, snoring and sleep apnea), while not recognized as one of the nine dental specialties, qualifies for board-certification by the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine (ABDSM). The qualified dentists collaborate with sleep physicians at accredited sleep centers, and can provide oral appliance therapy and upper airway surgery to treat or manage sleep-related breathing disorders.